


Sorceress of Time (Thanos x Human OC)

by CStar



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Avengers Endgame, Captain America - Freeform, F/M, Gamora - Freeform, Guardians of the Galaxy - Freeform, Hurt Stephen Strange, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity Stones, Infinity War, Little One, Love, Mad Titan, Marvel - Freeform, Marvel Universe, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Romance, Star Fox, The Black Order - Freeform, Time Travel, avengers fanfiction, mcu - Freeform, mcu fanfiction - Freeform, nebula - Freeform, powers, space, thanos - Freeform, thanosxoc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 47,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23698261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CStar/pseuds/CStar
Summary: Katiya Henfield thought of herself as nothing more than an ordinary, forgettable girl. That was until the day she was murdered. Now armed with mysterious new powers she finds herself within the ranks of the Avengers and under the watchful gaze of the mysterious Dr. Strange.But even with the mightiest heroes at her back, Kat still winds up at the mercy of the universe’s greatest foe, Thanos.Aboard Sanctuary, she finds Thanos to be her complete opposite. But it is only during a harrowing journey amongst the stars that both find not only a sense of belonging but an emotion they never believed possible: Love.Will Katiya be able to reverse the tides of time and save the Mad Titan from himself?And what chance could one girl have at saving all of infinity?
Relationships: Stephen Strange & Original Female Character(s), Thanos (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	1. Prologue: The Last Resting Place

**Author's Note:**

> Katiya Henfield thought of herself as nothing more than an ordinary, forgettable girl. That was until the day she was murdered. Now armed with mysterious new powers she finds herself within the ranks of the Avengers and under the watchful gaze of the mysterious Dr. Strange.
> 
> But even with the mightiest heroes at her back, Kat still winds up at the mercy of the universe’s greatest foe, Thanos. 
> 
> Aboard Sanctuary, she finds Thanos to be her complete opposite. But it is only during a harrowing journey amongst the stars that both find not only a sense of belonging but an emotion they never believed possible: Love.
> 
> Will Katiya be able to reverse the tides of time and save the Mad Titan from himself? 
> 
> And what chance could one girl have at saving all of infinity?
> 
> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.

Titan was a floating corpse over Saturn, turning like a sad heartbeat. The silence echoed through the empty halls of the ruined city. A tomb. Once prosperous, The Eternal City now matched the orange landscape of the deserted moon. Orange, the color of rust and decay, it piled in the corners of the city’s remains outside in the windowsills and crevices of the dead utopia.

One of the few buildings left standing, an echo of grandeur, possessed the only forms of life on this desolate moon within its sealed passageways. The building spread out like roots, webbing off in elaborate patterns to confuse intruders. Plantlife continued to thrive inside their decorative pots, nurtured by a still-functioning sprinkler system long after their caretakers had left. The quiet whisper of the water spraying over their leaves, was the only sound inside its measured intervals.

Silent as the grave.

It was through these bones Stephen Strange ran while monsters gained. They were desperate in preventing him from reaching the building’s heart. He slid around a corner to hide in the shadows before the lizard-like creatures went barreling past. Panting, he spread his feet, standing erect, and flourished his hands before a pendant dangling in front of his chest. The piece moved as if enlivened by the motion to reveal a bright green gem inside, illuminating the dimness of his surroundings.

A spark, a single flicker lit before his eyes from the motion. He followed it again, swiping his hand around in a fashion as if to claw it into existence.

“Come on,” he muttered. He tried again and again before creating the glimmer once more, like flint against steel within thin air. His right hand created an oval with his magic and peered into the white light of the portal.

With a quick rewind into the past, the ring burst to life before him, displaying a landscape of what would be mistaken as any human city minus the colossal floating crafts above the town. The sky no longer a light orange, but a gorgeous cobalt blue as the people thrived and smiled in such an oasis in the middle of an alien desert. Skyscrapers, made of ruthenium metal and glass, penetrated the skyline in manifold hues. The shapes of the buildings were circular and less square than earthly cities. High over regular commuters floated great monolithic structures, with countless windows like a tower but with all the appearances of gigantic flowers.

Strange felt the pull of the stone’s influence, shifting the images before him with the wave of his hand. Decades passed with a gesture while he closed his eyes, focusing on one needle in all the noise. Thousands shot past him in colorful blurs, back and forth from countless years prior, never taking notice of him as they went about their lives as before. He scanned for what he desired until finally-

Time came to a halt, his hands held up as if in surrender. Inside the ring, was the hallways before him, but they were dark once again and nothing stirred.

/What I had predicted came to pass./ Those words, spoken to him in another reality at another time, haunted him. Breathless, he stood before the window looking at one thousand years in the past. With the next wave of his hand, time shifted again to 500 years ago. The hall remained unaltered.

Stephen moved his hands slower but stopped when a man stepped into view. The towering figure stooped over a small, frail body within his grasp. Powerful muscles wrapped within a skintight suit as protection from the unstable atmosphere outside. Strange knew little about the entity, only that he was here because of him. Hate boiled up in his stomach, staring at the broad shoulders of the giant before him. This beast had cut trillions of lives short all across the galaxy.

“It’s all right.” The gigantic man’s deep voice reverberated off the walls, filling every corner with the magnitude of his presence. “I’ll keep you safe here. Nothing shall harm you again.” The mouthpiece for his oxygen supply made his voice crackle before he pressed two fingers to its center, making it release with a hiss before allowing it to dangle against his collarbone. Oxygen was still a working commodity in this building at least, considering how the green fauna thrived. Now unmasked, Strange could take in the enormous purple jaw with deep indentations. The mere sight of its grotesqueness brought one word to mind: Ugly. Despite mixed thoughts of anger and trepidation, Strange followed the man’s heavy gate down the main hall.

The small object in his arms did not respond to any of his words. One pale arm slipped out of the white silk draped over it. A sharp pain shot through Strange’s chest seeing it, the white skin possessed little contrast from the pure white silk. The large alien male gently tucked it back into his embrace, holding her closer while he pressed forward. A fresh wave of anger filled his heart with fire watching the possessive action. 

He pressed his brow against the head of the woman he carried with tenderness and strode into the room beyond the barrier.  
The vision sunk into the floor as the spell diminished. This was it. Cautious in not having his lizard friends spot him, Strange crept into the shadows to follow. Then the man paused before a large door. An array of gears hid behind an additional opalescent shield stood before him.

The doctor pressed a finger to his earpiece. “Stark, you said you found a heat signature here?” he asked, ducking into another recess in the wall as he once again used his powers to recall the site’s memory.

“Like a blip in the middle of a dead ocean. She’s there,” answered a male voice.

Strange could hear Stark’s rockets fly above while the businessman surveyed the area, no doubt searching for anyone trying to stop them. Strange left his cover to get a closer look at the barrier. But he stopped after hearing a snarl come from an archway leading to yet another hallway a few yards away.

Spines on its hunched shoulders glimmered in the red light coming from the skylight overhead. It shook its reptilian body as its throat expanded like a strange orange frog. Strange took a step back. How could he have missed it? The creature was twice his size and appeared to be a mix between a slug, frog, and a gecko with spikes walking upright on its hind legs. Though surprised, Strange assumed they had cloaked the beast from being seen by those who wished to enter until it was too late.

Adjusting his stance, Strange threw the beast back with an invisible force thrust out of his palms, but the monster caught itself and flung its massive bulk forward, throwing a punch at the sorcerer’s head. Strange created a shield that shattered the second its fist hit. He conjured more for the following rapid blows and fell back into the wall. A massive claw latched onto his neck and lifted him off the floor. Strange pressed his eyes shut, losing his footing while he dangled, its grip crushing his windpipe. With a trembling hand, he pressed his middle and forefinger together, swiping them up to cut the arm of the beast with his golden magic, slicing deep enough to draw green blood.

The beast hissed and dropped him in surprise, turning away to assess its wound. Without a second’s pause, Strange created a rod and struck the dazed creature down the hall before throwing up one last massive barrier for good measure. Once he got a moment’s pause, he manifested a portal into the room, bypassing its intricate lock system and closed it against furious roars of the creature clawing at the new obstruction.

Beyond the door, he saw a metal staircase led to a spotlighted platform above. Two golden goddess statues stood at the foot of the steep staircase, guarding it with swords crossed, creating a massive X like an imposing threat. Offerings of flowers, stuffed animals, jewels, and treasures littered every stair. Without hesitation, his body moved on its own, lifting him closer with each footfall while candles guided him with their dancing flames until he stood before the sacred object the chamber housed: a single glass coffin.

Inside, a woman lay dressed in a delicate white gown made of placid silk, her hair pillowing around her head like a golden halo. The container was made of celestial crystal, invisible to the eye as if she lay there without a wall between them. Realization choked him the moment he saw that unmistakable heart-shaped face. Strange didn’t realize he was crying until a rogue tear began its trail down his hallowed cheek. He wiped it away before clearing his throat, placing a hand on the side to be near her.

“We’ve run out of time, I’m afraid,” he said to the quiet room.

A burst of sound alerted him. He spun around before a volley of shots came down upon yet another shield formed within a hair of a second.

“You are trespassing, human. Step away from The Lady,” said a voice, commanding yet soft, calling from the entrance. Its grey-skinned owner dressed in what appeared to be a priest’s robe. This alien possessed a large forehead and a wide mouth with thin lips below small narrow eyes while two muscular reptilian guards shadowed his slow but confident stride into the room. The armored aliens kept their guns trained on the sorcerer, clicking with anticipation for the kill.

“How dare you infiltrate his domain,” said the priest. “This is a place of mourning. She belongs here with Thanos and her children.”

“Is she dead?” Strange’s voice possessed a dangerous edge, locking eyes with the priest far below. It was obvious, but he had a slim hope struggling to hold on to some happiness in this reunion. She couldn’t be dead. It was impossible. She had said it herself.

/The cruelest thing about my life is that I can never die./

“Yes,” answered the priest. “Murdered in cold blood, as you humans might say. But it was not by his hand.”

“Liar,” Strange scowled. His eyes revealed a trace of the torment swelling in his chest, piercing the deepest recesses of his heart. It was his worst nightmare realized. Katiya, the woman who had changed everything for him, now lost forever. He hadn’t been fast enough. Pressing his pointer and middle fingers together, and with every motion, the golden light solidified, growing larger until commanded to attack. Rage recoiled and thrashed out, whipping the priest back, stumbling from the might of his own spell.

Strange glanced over his shoulder, taking in her serine face. She would have chastised him for such carelessness in allowing such powerful feelings to unbalance his focus. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and let the world sink away to oblivion, giving in to the pull of the universe he came to relish. He shifted his right foot forward, flattened palms facing out before him, sweeping them across to create a wall around him and Katiya.

Below, a great tremor of power seized the statues at the bottom of the stairs. Strange’s eyes shot toward them before the priest curled his fingers and ripped the statues clean off the marble by an invisible force. His gnarled hand reached out before him, sending the goddesses soaring at them, heedless of Katiya. Strange held out his left hand, elbow locked, and thrust forward with his right, making projectiles burst into a great plume of feathers. As if by reflex, the priest sliced the air with a quick flick of his wrist and the feathers all turned their sharp quills on Strange and rained down on the barrier like needles before a large spear shattered his shield, thrown by the guards. Strange pressed back into the coffin, almost knocking it off its pedestal but caught it, jostling her before a chest of gold slammed into the side of his skull. The impact sent him sprawling onto the floor.

“Our master will not let her leave, even in death. Now if you’re quite done?” the priest said. The priest stepped onto the stairs while Strange’s jarred senses gathered themselves. Strange closed his eyes, already conjuring a spell to escape until a mesmerizing emerald glow brought his attention back to the center of the room. The Time Stone floated above him on its own accord. Strange lifted his head, trying to get past the spinning sensation to focus.

How had it released itself from the pendant?

Even the aliens gazed upon its brilliance. It was an Infinity Stone, one of the very few relics of its kind. Tense with fear, he rose to pull it back with an outstretched hand, but it would not obey. It stopped mid-air above the coffin, above her, recognizing the familiarity of her aura.

Gravity increased tenfold, slamming the back of his head on the tile the next moment. An unseen force restrained him to the floor, unable to move as he gritted his teeth from the pain, panting as he struggled to watch the priest approach like a spider cornering a dragonfly trapped in its web.

“Without the stone, it appears we have no further use of you,” said the alien. The air shifted above him and Strange turned his eyes to see a golden triton now hovering over his neck, its sharp prongs a few inches from killing him.

The alien priest steepled his boney fingers together, relishing the hint of fear within the eyes of the irritating wizard, “Die.”


	2. Chapter 1: Scales Unbalanced

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaos descends upon an innocent colony in space as Katiya finds herself tossed into a fight for her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.

“... Give up?” A young alien woman, Dy-Ya, spoke into the small silver rod hanging from her shoulder, striding through the early sunlight pouring into the greenhouse. The smell of dirt and moss filled Katiya’s nose as the hiss of the sprinkler system forced them to speak louder than normal. The greenhouse was warm as bustling workers ignored the haze of humidity as it steamed up the windows, evidence of why it was hard to breathe. The air made Kat feel like she was sweating through every inch of her brown patient gown. Kat's blonde curls stuck to her face as she followed the blue alien woman.

Through the translator, Dy-Ya’s voice was loud and metallic. Over the computer-generated voice, Kat could detect the soft murmur of Dy-Ya’s own voice, though every syllable to Kat seemed to be the same words repeated over and over. It was an incredible piece of technology that followed Kat everywhere she went. Dy-Ya sported it begrudgingly at first but must have found the chance to insult Kat attractive, knowing she couldn’t fight back. White eyes scanned over Kat with a sly smile on Dy-Ya’s dark blue lips while she sauntered with cat-like grace around the railing around a small waterfall, brushing aside the tentacles tumbling off her head like hair.

Another worker strode over to her and picked up a pot, lifting it on his shoulder as they spoke. Dy-Ya’s hand covered the mic as she gestured over to Kat with a laugh. The male she was speaking with grinned and a red-hot bubble of embarrassment burst in Kat, sending heat to hear ears.

Katiya waited patiently until the male strode away and Dy-Ya tapped a finger on her painted cheekbone, thoughtfully watching her. The white tribal markings covering her face revealed Dy-Ya's position, trade, and family, though Kat couldn’t discern any of it. The condescension was a side of these people she had adapted to. Outsiders considered dangerous reasons to remain to themselves and monitor those who lacked the blue hue in their skin. But why did Dy-Ya hate her so enthusiastically? Perhaps it was because Kat crash-landed in their fields, destroying a huge portion of their crops? Or that Dy-Ya’s mother slaved away for a few days to heal her?

This frustrated Kat, Dy-Ya didn’t even turn the translator over to her once so she could speak. This was her only chance of finding some stability, or it would force her to find it elsewhere. Walking forward to ask for a chance with the translator, Kat tripped when the hose looped around her cast but caught herself on a shelf. Dy-Ya smirked at her, not moving to help as Kat freed herself, cursing the woman all the while. 

“You seem like a ripe mess,” Dy-Ya laughed. “You believe I should just give you a job because my mother asked me? No, I think you will need to do a lot more than receive my mother’s blessing to convince me.” Kat wasn’t surprised. When, from above them, a woman named Kahli stepped out onto the landing, taking hold of the railing with raised eyebrows at Dy-Ya in warning after having heard her daughter. The stern look made Dy-Ya’s resolve crumbled. Dy-Ya pressed her fingertips to her forehead with a sigh. 

“Fine,” she sighed. “If you want to work, then you have to pass an entrance exam.” Kat didn’t decline the challenge. “Number one, can you tell me how much a Promacium Spruce seed weighs?” She held the mic out to Kat, not even turning to her. She didn’t expect an answer and Kat didn’t rise to the bait. “Nothing,” Dy-Ya sneered. “Tell me how many species of the Tourumspratus Flora there are.” No response. “Okay, let’s do one last question. How much rainwater must a Verocome Shrub intake each day to bloom?”

Kat was about to respond when the cold metal of a small druid brushed past her, making her jump as she watched its efforts in watering the over-grown foliage spilling out of their hanging pots. Then a woman with a clipboard tapped Dy-Ya’s shoulder to discuss something. Dy-Ya seemed happy for the distraction and turned the mic away as she spoke rapidly with the other girl as Kat drew close. She came close enough to earn a hesitant gaze from the other worker.

When Kat reached for the device, Dy-Ya turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder to push her back only to have Kat slap her own hand ontop of it, pinning it to her shoulder. Surprise passed over both of women’s faces before Kat shoved Dy-Ya back, seeming to only make the woman stumble, but to Dy-Ya she had the disorienting sensation of leaving her body for only a moment. It stunned Dy-Ya; the pause was long enough to grab the device and place it around her own shoulders.

“Why do you hate me so much?” Kat asked, the mic held between them as Dy-Ya panted, holding her chest with a fierce glare. It was clear Katiya hadn’t earned any points from jarring the woman.

“Because,” Dy-Ya started with a deep scowl, trying to calm herself down. “As you can see, all you can do is harm people. Your kind brings nothing but death.”

It was upon leaving that Kat met Kahli on the front step between their conjoined houses. Dy-Ya was the total opposite of her mother, where Kahli was gentle and soft-spoken, her daughter was brash and loud. Kahli always kept a translator on her person for her job as a healer of anyone who passed through the port, which made it easy for them to talk now that Kat had won back her translator. 

“You are walking better now that you are outside of the ward,” Kahli smiled, looking at her cast. Kat limped over with a smile.

“I have you to thank for that,” Kat said. The healer brushed away the compliment and grabbed a pair of crutches leaned against the wall. Kat gratefully took them and sighed, feeling mobile once again before Kahli gestured to their left toward a small stone path through the gardens. They descended the step together, heading for the small garden. The orderly courtyard had benches along each path with a small lake at its center, fed by a burbling brook. Flowers and hedges meticulously planned to make patients feel a tad more cheerful and welcome.

“Katiya,” she began stepping out of the shade. “You are not leaving us so soon, were you? Your injuries haven’t healed fully.”

“I was thinking about it. I mean, I feel that I’ve worn out my welcome. The others don’t mind when Dy-Ya shows her dislike for me. So, I think it’s best. But don’t worry about me, ma’am, I can find another place to find work,” Katiya said, admiring the tropical flora before them. Shimmering insects of blue and green fertilized the buds like bees on Earth. They buzzed and inserted their fat bodies into the flora, coving themselves in yellow dust. The greenhouse was attached to the brightly colored healer’s office located on a steep hill, far from the commotion of the town, up where the air was fresh and clean over the haze. The distant blue hills surrounded the small settlement and the lights of their port flashed lazily in the distance flagging in ships to the landing bay.

“Non-sense,” Kahli said, matching her slow pace, her head bent down thoughtfully. Knowing the kind healer, Kat knew Kahli would do anything to keep her there under her watchful eye. She was one of the few mön’nbara who accepted her presence.

“I have given you your own room in my house. I know Dy-Ya would not be pleased if I saddled you with her,” Kahli smirked sideways at her, knowing her daughter all too well. Such kindness was unbelievable to Kat, and she felt lucky to have found it when she needed it the most, but she had done nothing to earn it. Kat teared up and shook her head.

“No, you have more things to worry about than me,” she said but Kahli raised a hand for peace. Kat listened.

“I want to help you, keep you here as long as you need. You remind me of my eldest,” she said, coming to a stop next to Kat. “You are brave and want to find peace. To have a home and family to thrive alongside of.” Kahli turned to her. It was a hard blow. Kat wiped away a tear before lowering her head with a sniffle. 

“Few people are so willing to admit that all they want is comfort. To belong,” Kahli said before continuing on the stone walkway.

“I once dreamed for more than a simple life,” Kat admitted.

“A time not long ago,” Kahli said, eyeing her from the side.

“Yeah, well, it seems like centuries,” she laughed. “I’m a lot older than you think.”

“Elder,” one voice called out, interrupting their walk. A boy about Dy-Ya’s age came out of the backdoor and down the steps running. When he reached them, he paused and leaned on his knees, panting which gave Kat enough time to place the translator’s earpiece over her ear so she could understand anyone standing nearby.

The boy continued, “Th-they are…”

“Gryson, calm down. Collect yourself,” Kahli said calmly, holding her hands before her and waited. He shook his head animatedly, tentacles swaying in the motion.

Catching his breath, the boy continued. “The other colonies and Maridium…” he said. “Come listen.” They followed with urgency.

The radio’s crackle led them to the lower section of the servants’ quarters. Kat struggled in taking the three steps down into the sitting area, but she could already hear the screams emitting from the speaker.

“We are under attack! Requesting aid and back up at coordinates South 996. Requesting warships! This is not a drill, we are tradesmen. I repeat, we are under attack and outmatched. We-,” the radio cut out, the static grown to a din before they repeated the message again. 

“That’s Maridium’s recording from almost a year ago, it’s been repeating like that since the attack, it’s a ghost town now,” said another, turning the dials on the transmitter to hear more clearly, leaning in. “Here. This is the new one.” The speaker came to life with a click on the other end.

“Ly-Evra port,” a distant voice whispered as if they didn’t want to be overheard by something. “We have taken heavy casualties. A group of survivors are bunkered below the city until the noise dies down outside. Administer Brohza has been murdered during the assault. Communications are still holding up. This is Ground 001 reporting. We are still alive-,” A horrible crash interrupted the speaker before a wave of monstrous roars followed by screams of the dying. It sounded like a horror movie. Kat covered her mouth as that message too got disconnected into radio silence.

“Message repeats in three seconds…” said a computerized voice. Everyone was still. But Kahli was the first to recover. She turned to Kat, gently edging her back towards the stairs.

“Why don’t we get you to bed?” Kahli said to Kat, turning her away with a wary eye on the speaker. At the gentle touch, Katiya came back from her thoughts and blinked. Workers around them returned to their chores slowly as they discussed, and Kat was herded to the stairs. 

“This has to be connected, though the date has them months apart,” said a female servant sitting on one of the side stools, half in her uniform.

“Why attack our home planet and then our colonies?” another man asked.

“What will become of us? We are just a small colony. Nothing much to plunder for,” Gryson asked, turning to Kahli. It was rare for anything to rattle her, but this disturbed their mistress. Kat felt Kahli’s grip tighten on her arm the moment she turned to look back. 

“You need some rest. We shall talk about this later. I am sure the colonists have already called out for help,” Kahli whispered her assurance, but not turning back to the others. She had no words to give them. They were all afraid. No one knew what to do other than to continue, and Kat was left with nothing to do but climb the stairs and go to bed. What could anyone do?

“Why didn’t we do that the first time they attacked our people?” the girl on the stool asked bitterly.

“Idiot, how would we know they were attacking just us after one attack?” another girl snapped. “Someone is hunting us. This is the second colony to go dark after our home planet.”

Numbly Kat climbed back up the stairs to their living quarters and prayed.

[part 2] 

It had only been a year since the last transmission of the attack on the port of Ly-Evra. Now the terror Kat heard through the waves of grainy voices came into their reality. She reached a bloodied hand to grip the edge of a desk to scoot her body forward as she gazed at the burning world around her.  
A retching gasp made her eyes flicker over to the body at her side. There Dy-Ya lay with her back to Kat, gasping for breath in a painful rattle, blood gurgling in her throat. Breaking from her daze, Kat lifted Dy-Ya in her arms, resting the woman’s head in her lap. They had shot her in the neck, the muscles spasmed as Dy-Ya tried to breathe.

“No,” Kat whimpered, tears clouding her eyes and dripped onto her face. “No, no, no, no… Dy-Ya.” The dying woman smoothed back a golden lock of Kat’s hair, smearing purple blood on her pale cheek.

“Stay with me,” whimpered Kat, shaking her friend to keep her conscious. “Stay with me.”

They had come far from their first meeting in the greenhouse. Dy-Ya took a few months to warm up to her, but after all, they had been through, they soon became inseparable. During the attack, they both ran from the clinic, hoping to find a hiding spot from the beasts that came raining down from the sky in large pods, taking out anything they crossed. The two women had been safe in the lobby of a motel before they took pity on a woman banging on the door, screaming for help.

Dy-Ya had hissed the command to not answer, but Kat ignored her. With the woman came a wave of the beasts upon the complex, killing everyone inside. The door struck Kat’s head when the monsters blew it open. And the woman Katiya had tried to save was now very dead, headless even, her body crushed under a stampede of feet. Responding quickly, Dy-Ya used a metal bar she found blown off from the door and fought back. Dazed with a faint ringing in her head, Kat watched Dy-Ya fight until they shot her. Kat cried out, but her voice was far away as the world spun. A blurred figure of a beast striding over made her twist away in fear before a sharp pain erupted in her side with a muffled bang.

Holding Dy-Ya now, Kat lifted her up so she could breathe. Glass shattered a distance off, tearing Kat’s attention away with a gasp. She held Dy-Ya closer. “What do we do?” she whispered in the mön’nbaran’s tongue. But her friend shook her head, too weak to answer, staring at the human’s face as if she knew it was for the last time. She couldn’t even say a fair well or comfort Kat as she died. Weakly, she turned her head and kissed Kat’s palm before a tear fell away. Then Dy-Ya’s body went limp, her eyes dulled as the light of life vanished entirely from them.

Kat rocked with the body for a moment, fighting back the urge to cry. She pressed her forehead to Dy-Ya’s before kissing it and gently laid her back down. By now the aliens had moved on from this part of town and she was all that was left.

…

Crimson blood soaked her arm and side as Dy-Ya’s dried blood stained her shirt and pulled at her skin. The beat of her heart became the rapid thrum of a clock. Time bled into her coat as she stumbled alone, unsure of when it would run out. An hour ago, there had been nothing but mass chaos as mountainous structures descended upon them from the sky, burrowing into the land. And now the silence made her ears roar.

Kat choked on the ash thick in the air, burning her eyes to the point she had to squint among the narrow walkways. Rickety planks made up the various bridges and pathways threading through the colorfully painted buildings.

Around the corner dead mön’nbaran colonists lay scattered all over the street, blood pooling around their fallen bodies. The pain of such a loss filled her to the bone like marrow, though she possessed hardly enough tears to shed for them as well. She then headed a flight of stairs when her feet slipped on spilled gore. Catching the railing, her ankle twisted between steps. Katiya stuffed her shirt collar between her teeth to bite back a cry threatening to rip out of her dry throat, not daring enough to make a sound.

It took a moment to settle and free herself, wincing the moment she put weight on her bad ankle. Staggering, she tottered through familiar streets now turned into a battlefield. Bodies became blurry lumps in her vision as she blinked through the smoke. Fear was the farthest thing from her mind. Right now, she couldn’t afford to focus on being afraid. Acknowledging the fear clawing at the back of her mind would invite this reality to sink its teeth into her will to survive which would inevitably crush her. So, she fixated on getting supplies for her wound.

Down the next street, a medical truck stood parked in the middle of the street before her. The red and white lights danced around the carnage while its siren bleeped. She smiled at her good fortune, stumbling towards it as she glanced around carefully the entire way. The driver had never made it back to the clinic, believing they were only heading towards a small incident, not knowing the chaos taking place in the village below.

The door to the cab hung open with the driver still seated limply at the wheel, his eyes blindly staring out the shattered windshield. Getting past her nerves of what she meant to do, Kat fished around his pockets before her eyes caught the gleam of the swaying metallic ring still in the ignition. She could mentally kick herself. The truck was still humming.

Carefully, eyes flickering over to the dead man once again before pressing herself into his lap to grab the keys and turn the truck off to a rattling halt. With shallow breath, she limped around the vehicle quietly, keeping herself low. The lock to the back of the truck gave almost instantly, the hinges screamed with the quick motion of flinging it open. In a panic, she grabbed pliers, salve, bandages, and disinfectant before letting the door slam shut. Hobbling hastily, Kat made it into the dusty shadows of a tavern close by, waiting for anyone to check on the noise.

Leaning herself against the entrance’s doorframe, she caught her breath before following a sign pointing upstairs to the bathroom. Her ankle trembled as she lifted it to the first step. With a wince, she placed it back down and leaned on the wall, distributing her bundle of goods into one arm, her hand slid up and grabbed the railing a few steps above her as she bit down the pain after setting her good foot on the stair above, pressing her side into the railing to relieve her bad ankle a little.

The surmounting pain made it hard to breathe as she stretched her body with every step. Katiya squeezed her eyes shut in hopes to keep the lightheadedness at bay. Almost at the top, the painkillers fell from her arms. Gripping onto the metal railing, she cursed between gritted teeth and leaned down as the sting tore at her and the bandages tumbled out as well, rolling back down the steps. Squeezing her eyes shut in frustration, she bit her lip and resigned to keep moving. 

Another set of pliers dropped at the top of the stairs. But her eyes remained focused on the restroom door and dragged her injured ankle along, making it to the door.

Once inside the one stall facility, Kat dropped her small burdens into the sink before sifting through the boxes to find basic metal pliers. Under her shirt, the ugly wound in her side made Katiya feel faint. Sitting back on the toilet, she forced herself to straighten up, biting past the cringe of pain. With a shaking hand, poking around the wound to find a bullet seemed difficult. She was gasping in agony while prodding the hole and let out a cry of anguish when she touched flesh. Not finding anything, her hand quickly reached back, her fingers finding an exit point. It made her dizzy thinking of a foreign metal entering her body, ripping through, and then exiting out her back. The nightmarish monster who shot Dy-Ya had done so with her gun, aiming at Kat’s stomach, but she had luckily turned to the side at the last second. Her own gun.

But she didn’t die. She was still stubbornly alive-

Just then the bathroom door burst open. Katiya screamed, shielding her face from the falling debris. Undisturbed by the smoke, a thin alien stepped out of the smoke. Two black pools looked down his nose, or where a nose would have been, from opening. His slim hair was smoothed back from a large forehead. A cruel smile grew on his thin lips seeing her sitting on a dirty toilet, blood trickling down her side.

With steepled hands, the alien gave a satisfied sigh: “It appears we have one left.”


	3. The Sentient Vow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After meeting her captor, Thanos, Katiya is taken onto the large spaceship called Sanctuary to be kept prisoner as a twisted promise for Thanos to never let his wrath entirely devastate a population as terribly as he had mön’nbaran colony. 
> 
> ...
> 
> Now trapped in the Mad Titan's clutches, can Katiya ever hope to be free again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katiya Henfield thought of herself as nothing more than an ordinary, forgettable girl. That was until the day she was murdered. Now armed with mysterious new powers she finds herself within the ranks of the Avengers and under the watchful gaze of the mysterious Dr. Strange.
> 
> But even with the mightiest heroes at her back, Kat still winds up at the mercy of the universe’s greatest foe, Thanos.
> 
> Aboard Sanctuary, she finds Thanos to be her complete opposite. But it is only during a harrowing journey amongst the stars that both find not only a sense of belonging but an emotion they never believed possible: Love.
> 
> Will Katiya be able to reverse the tides of time and save the Mad Titan from himself?
> 
> And what chance could one girl have at saving all of infinity?
> 
> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.

Kat’s heart stopped when the door to the shabby bathroom blew open. Amongst all the debris and trash stood a serine grey alien. He was thin and wore slim black robes unlike the beasts from earlier. He steepled his fingers, nodding his head in her direction before the guards tailing him approached. Kat glared fiercely at them both as one reached for her, but she slashed at its arm with the pliers. The guard hesitated, but when she went to strike again, it caught her arm. She gasped in pain from its grip, threw her palm up, squeezing her eyes shut, but the familiar twinge of magic did not return to her. A screeching sensation filled her skull instead, grating against the bone and left her brain a throbbing mass. While her mind reeled from the pain, a vein of red trickled from her nose, puddling beneath her on the tiled floor. 

Then an enormous paw latched onto her and lifted her, careless of her wound. Slung over like a sack, Katiya found the creature’s flesh to be rough with bony plates protruding out of its shoulder blades, which ground painfully against her ribs. Gasping, she pushed herself up. Too weak to resist further, she bounced while they descended the stairs, exiting the bar without a sound. 

Outside, the streets were swarming with beasts making one last sweep for survivors. Katiya blinked in the blinding sunlight as it crawled towards its zenith. Their movement made it hard to focus on anything but preventing her stitches from ripping. Through Kat’s tears, the world became a dizzy blur of shuffling movement, smoke, and burning buildings. The still frail blue-skinned people lay scattered in the street, their purple blood painting the walls and sidewalks, leaving little hope. Bodies of women and children lined the walkways while the men laid closer to the colony’s epicenter after having tried to stop the invasion at its landing point. 

Their group stopped for a moment as their guide regarded their surroundings, then called to a nearby group. “Burn the bodies. His Grace wishes to level the city once we’re finished.” Then spoke over his shoulder to those following him, “Do not tarry here. He is most impatient for our return.” Reluctant, the guards followed as Kat pushed herself up a little more but wretched from the pain when they stepped off the sidewalk down to the lower street. 

With gritted teeth and a tear-stained face, Katiya shifted her weight when they turned a corner into the town square. Inside the plaza they could see monsters feeding on the dead, ripping their bodies apart like unfettered animals, reptilian tongues licking the gore from their fangs. The sight made her shudder. Her bearer gazed out to the feeding frenzy, a deep rumble emitting from its throat, turning her blood to ice. 

Throngs of aliens amassed at the center next to The Fountain of Kings. The closer they drew to the middle, the more frightening the other creatures turned. Warped faces with massive jaws and sword-like talons became common characteristics surrounding her. These creatures were born to kill.

A loud clattering boom stole her attention back to the fountain before a collective howl filled the air. Her mind recalled the hatch hidden inside that Dy-Ya once described to her. Beneath the clear waters of the fountain lay a cache of the mön’nbaran colony’s arsenal. The mön’nbari were a peaceful race, so the hatch hadn’t opened since its creation. 

As the group progressed, a woman stepped into their path, making Katiya strain her neck to see the female glaring at the four of them. “Proxima Midnight,” said their guide. 

“We have collected the last form of life as our master commanded. We are just returning to him with our spoils.” The woman had straight, long black hair and matching horns. Her amber eyes flickered in the black recesses of her sockets as she took Katiya in from head to toe. 

“How had we missed it, Ebony Maw? We usually are more effective at weeding out stragglers,” she muttered with a sneer, making Katiya glare. 

At the edge of the fountain, Kat could see inside as waves of monsters poured into the hatch like black water while a goliath, clad in golden armor, stood over their procession. She eyed his strange appearance, his purple skin caught in the dimming light filtered through the dust and smoke.

“My lord, Thanos,” Ebony Maw called down, his voice echoing in the empty paved bowl. The giant raised his head and regarded Maw before his red eyes fell upon her. 

…

[Thanos]

Climbing out was no strenuous feat for Thanos. He calculated the power he would require to reach the fountain’s lip far above his head. After taking two steps back, he charged forward and leaped, his gigantic hand catching the edge before lifting himself up with no more effort than opening a door. His muscles were used to great strain, hardened with power enough for most demands he put on them. 

Thanos overlooked Maw’s grin and focused his attentions on the young alien bent over the shoulder of a chitauri soldier. Her sapphire eyes blazed with fury when she turned to him with gritted teeth, a golden curl bouncing with her breath. Such disregard of fear made something stir within him. 

“We found this one hiding in a dried-up watering hole just a kilometer from here,” reported Maw. 

With measured anticipation, he strode over, lifting her chin with the side of his forefinger. The obvious contrast of their skin didn’t disturb him as much as the resemblance this woman had to his people. The pale face of this alien brought back only a fragment of something he thought lost to him long ago. Her likeness was uncanny. What was she doing here? The woman tore her chin away, glaring up at him as if she wanted nothing more than to slit his neck before spitting blood at his feet. 

Maw reached up and deactivated his communicator on the collar of his robe, pressing his fingertips together; and he then began speaking in rapid Athorian, one of the more popular languages used throughout the galaxy. To an outsider, the language sounded strange, the rolling of the tongue gave the dialect an almost purring sound to it. Breathy consonants halted in some words when the tongue touched the roof of the mouth to form the sounds for \d\ or \n\\.

The female’s brow wrinkled by the sudden change in language. But Maw hadn’t switched his speech at all. Their translators granted meaning from one brain’s synchronized electrical pulses of neurons to another. This manipulated a brain’s understanding and translated each word with equal meaning at a speed so fast it was as if they were speaking in the listener’s language all along. 

“I believe this is what they call a human,” said Maw, uninterested in the girl’s reaction. “We didn’t expect to find one here, but she is the only survivor. There are few records of humans traveling throughout the universe. And they are a rather primitive race from Terra.” Thanos’s eyes glinted with interest. 

Terra, or “earth” to its natives, was a close neighbor to his own home on Titan. Now the similarities of her physiology made sense, though he had never observed a human before. Destiny was with them that day. It was no mistake he came here, hunted down a race to extinction, and found her. 

Not bothering to turn off his communicator, he asked to the side with his eyes still focused on her: “Is she the only one?” The girl’s eyebrows rose. Her attention returned to him. 

“Apart from her, there was no sign of life. And she is also the only human we have seen,” Maw said. Fascinated, Thanos removed his helmet, and with it, his communicator, unveiling his appearance from the shadows of his visor. But she didn’t shudder, nor did she turn away. The woman only stared at him, expecting an alien no matter his form. Then those large blue eyes fell on his chin. 

Held within a breath of a moment, he remained still so she could assess him. The deep grooves in his jaw had always been a sensitive subject as a young man. For decades he desired to have someone look past it. It was a trifling emotion he had overcome, vain thoughts he had put to rest long ago. To him, it had seemed no longer important to consider what others thought when they looked upon him. But now, seeing this human focus on his deformity brought a fresh wave of bitterness. 

“Take her to Sanctuary,” he muttered. “Abandoning the girl here might prove fatal.” He added the last part when he noticed the red staining her gown. She may have survived, but she hadn’t escaped his assault without injury. “We’ve already lost too many because the mön’nbaran had refused my solution, now wiped out entirely by a miscalculation.” He lowered the last phrase to a growl, turning to the lead commander on this mission, a chitari named Grievo. 

His men then dragged Grievo forward, shoving him into the clearing to leave him to his fate. “Please, your grace,” begged the bloodied-up commander, no doubt beaten by his subordinates for his recklessness. “I have failed you, but let me prove myself again, master. I will not repeat this transgression.” The fear in Grievo’s voice rang clear, but Thanos had never shown favoritism for his troops. Justice needed to be served; balance restored. Thanos raised a hand to stop the flow of useless words, then placed it upon his shoulder, like a father to a child confessing of wrongdoing. 

“The scales are unbalanced substantially in this part of the universe because of your folly,” said Thanos. Compassion lived behind Thanos’s calculating eyes; his actions a mercy whether his soldiers saw it or not. Thanos placed the barrel of his gun against Grievo’s bowed head. Without another word, his general accepted his fate in the size of a plasma round shot into his skull. Thanos remained as calm as one would in passing conversation while Grivo’s body fell with a heavy clatter of armor. 

The human uttered a sound of shock. Her delicate hand covering her mouth while she squeezed her eyes shut against the sight of gore-splattered over the bricks. Vibrations of her racing mind made Thanos’s brain tingle as it brushed against his subconscious. The powerful sensation was almost visible to him. Something was different about this human. Something very wrong. 

The human lifted her head, eyes opening again, sensing a change. ‘What’s he doing?’ she thought.

“Go,” he ordered, his voice changed from his sudden urge to indulge himself in the human’s mind. She eyed him cautiously, thick-lashed eyes narrowed while golden brows wrinkled her forehead. But Thanos turned away and replaced his helmet, taking command of the masses plundering for any spoils they could find. It would be a perilous journey back through the Glarklōneous Reach.

[Kaitya]

Ebony Maw led the group to a massive armored carrier, which took off the moment they stepped on, headed towards the warship looming overhead. Panic set in for Kat. She kicked her feet, hitting the guard in his ribs. But the pain from her injury made her flinch as blood trailed down the back of the alien’s shoulder before it grabbed her. Its entire hand encircled her waist, claws digging into her back and sides. The pain from its grip made Katiya unable to keep her eyes open, slipping in and out of consciousness. 

…

The next time Katiya woke, she found herself in what appeared to be an operating room. Machines whirred and beeped as she closed her eyes against the glaring white light overhead. Cold metal against her back made her shiver while a blueish laser shot into the wound on her side. That was when Kat realized she was naked apart from two long pieces of cloth placed over her breasts and pelvis. She hugged herself, her heart rate increasing on the beeping monitor beside her head. Feeling some resistance to her movement, she noted the cords snaking around her arms, their needles pumping murky liquid into her veins. 

All this should have made her upset and cause her to break free, but she hadn’t the energy to fight. Perhaps some of these drugs made her docile? To forget the pain. Maw’s heavily shadowed face emerged from the darkness, his hands clasped behind his back in his stalking approach. “The dust and germs of your miserable planet are now being eliminated to prevent infection,” he said and pressed a few buttons on the device, the laser burned more intensely. She cried out, trying to turn away, but a device locked her head in place to prevent thrashing. 

“You’re fortunate our lord Thanos is so merciful. It would have been generous to have you die in that wasteland.” Offended, Kat glared at his hands while he lifted one cloth to examine an enormous bruise on her hip she hadn’t noticed before. His cold bony fingers pressed on the delicate flesh of her midsection. 

“You recover quickly. That’s admirable for your kind,” he said.

"Is there anyone else besides me?” Katiya asked, struggling to lift her head off the table to peer around for other survivors. She couldn’t believe she was the only one. But seeing the lab’s emptiness, she realized it was true. They weren’t trying to save anyone else. Why would they? It was a purposeful attack, but to an end, she didn’t understand. Were they enemies of the mön’nbaran? He didn’t bother answering her, so she repeated, fixing her eyes on him, ignoring the screaming fear in the back of her mind, hating the tremble in her voice. 

“Is there anyone else?”

“All of your friends have transcended to a greater calling and received true salvation,” he answered. The machine shooting its beam into her shut off and turned away with a wave of his hand. He frowned while assessing the bullet wound, now sealed over by a scab thanks to the amazing abilities of the laser. “We used your heat signature to find you. It was the only one in our readings.”

“God,” she whimpered. 

“Now, we shall escort you to the living quarters our master has graciously provided you.” He gestured to a hulking brute at the door holding a long scepter. Maw then curled his fingers in a beckoning manner, and her restraints released, the needles sliding out of her flesh. His strange ability lifted her up and towards the door, forcing her to catch herself. Next, a long white robe lifted itself into the air, wrapping around her before tying itself against her tailbone and behind her neck, making her modest once again.

Surprised, Katiya took her first experimental steps without pain in her body or head. A slight smile tugged at the far corners of her lips with relief. Subconsciously she touched her side to feel the scab through the thin material before following them down the black corridor, not wanting to make the muscular alien upset, leaving Maw to follow.

“Don’t be afraid,” muttered Ebony Maw. “You are to remain here as a testament of the mighty Thanos of Titan. A promise to never again tip the scales into disparity, but only spare and take the lives of his children for our deliverance.” She glanced at Maw behind her without a suitable way to respond. Scales? That was the second time she heard the term used when referring to killing her friends. 

Around a few corners, Kat struggled to remember which way they were going without a discernable marker to establish their location. Her bare feet padded down the cold steel-plated halls when the guard stopped before a doorway. Inside Katiya noted a bunker bed attached to the wall and at its side sat a small bowl connected to the floor, which Kat could only guess was the toilet.

Rapidly blinking away tears, she turned to their icy demeanors. They didn’t care if this was a small cramped space for her. How long was she to be there? The fear mounted in her and she opened her mouth to ask-

“Maw,” a feminine voice called. It was Proxima Midnight once again. Their guide turned at the sound of his name. “They’re ready. Thanos orders you to report to the training facility immediately.”

“Of course,” Maw said, gesturing to the guard who only shoved Kat into her new cell, slamming the door before she could cry out. Her heart fell with the hissing seal of a lock.

Trapped. 

The façade of bravery crumbled with the icy wave of fear, collapsing her resolve. Sobs escaped her lips while she pressed her head against the door, mourning the loss of her friends while she was to serve as some kind of morbid oath for the man responsible for their murders. Soon sorrow transformed to rage. It boiled until Katiya was screaming, pounding the door with the sides of her fists, slapping the metal until it stung and screamed until her throat became raw. 

Silence. 

Several minutes passed as she stood there, fists pressed into her temples while her body leaned against the door. Defeated, she slid to the ground and hugged her bent knees, meditating on what her fate as a sentient vow might be. What if they just ended up leaving her? Was that alien going to kill her just as easily as he had killed one of his cohorts? The impassive look in his eye when he shot his follower chilled her. Kat rubbed her arms as if to warm herself from the image. 

‘Your kind brings nothing but death.’ 

Dy-Ya’s words stung. Had she been right? Was this somehow her fault? Throughout her life, she earned an excellent reputation in the universe. It was alarming to consider someone would want to hunt her down. But why had they spared her? Why let her linger with this pain?

Tears took their time to dry, but when they did, her resolve settled. Her gaze hardened on the empty air before climbing to her feet. Now facing the door, she inhaled deeply, her tight blonde curls lifted off her shoulders as she raised her arms towards the door. Power rising in her belly made her skin tingle with energy. She opened her eyes, only able to see pink before her while pressing her thumb, fore, and middle finger together on both hands. She wrapped her arms around herself then threw both hands wide apart.

After releasing a puff of air from between her lips, Katiya Henfield vanished.


	4. No Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katiya tries to escape Sanctuary, but not without facing off with the Mad Titan himself!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.

[Thanos]

“You lost her?” the large titan grumbled over his food while listening to his guard’s report. Light blue plasma particles against the beryllium window illuminated the empty mess hall. The eerie light shadowed the titan’s face, making it more fearsome. The reptilian guard concealed the trembling in his legs beneath the long robes streaming down from his tassets. The guard bowed to attest to his failure.

“She disappeared,” his guard muttered. “Without a sound. We detected nothing until the scheduled food distribution.”

Thanos nodded, coming to some unsaid conclusion. “I see…” he muttered, his large thumb pressed against the blade of the knife he held, but the thick titanian skin didn’t break so easily. He dismissed the guard. Then, reclining back in his metal chair, Thanos inhaled deeply through his nose as he thought of a solution, unable to believe it plausible that a seemingly powerless woman could slip from his grasp. 

The whisper of the dining hall’s door caught his attention as a skinny orange alien dressed in faded golden robes with prayer beads dangling from his neck stepped in. The newcomer, Cha, was possibly the only being across the galaxies Thanos could consider a friend. Where Thanos was brash and upfront, Cha was gentle and charismatic. The tension died down as Cha greeted everyone with a gentle smile, his bald scalp reflecting the overhead lights as he strode towards the table. 

“It’s an agreeable time to depart from this wasteland,” Cha breathed. “A sandstorm is brewing just outside the city limits according to our radars.” Then he pulled out a chair and slid into the seat, laying his folded hands on the table while Thanos observed the graceful actions still deep in thought. 

Like clockwork, one draconian servant set a plate before Cha the moment he settled. Cha smiled and whispered, “Give the cook our thanks.” But Thanos couldn’t agree with such a notion. The food before them couldn’t be deemed edible. Their cook was getting desperate in his attempts. Hopefully, now that they had more supplies it may improve, and the crew should be able to weather another journey back to more civilized galaxies.

Within the next moment, the head of his guard strode in. “Bestrol,” Thanos said the Chitauri’s name, his guard bowed. “And what have you to report? Have you found the girl?” 

“No, my lord Thanos, I could not capture her. My men say that she is impossible to touch,” Bestrol said mystified. 

Thanos growled, unsatisfied with the news. “We will find her. She cannot go far,” he muttered and resumed eating while Cha sent him a pondering gaze. Under the scrutiny of his wizened friend, Thanos stiffened. He was used to Cha’s perceptive mind knowing when something was amiss with him, a keen sense of awareness in others Thanos had conditioned himself to possess.

“Would you like to discuss something, Cha? Your ceaseless gawking irritates me,” he snarled.   
Cha straightened up, eyeing Grieves and then him. “What are you planning to do with such an insignificant creature? The girl, she is defenseless against your men,” Cha’s tone careful along with his choice in words, tiptoeing on the fine line of Thanos’s wrath. Thanos wrapped a hand around his goblet, peering into the ruby liquid.

“What does it matter to you?” Thanos growled. “If she fled her cell, she would be a fool to think we wouldn’t hunt her down.”

“Yes, I know, but…” Cha waved away with impatience.

“But?” Thanos arched a brow. 

“She must be so frightened,” Cha said, shaking his head at the titan’s callous nature. Thanos disliked being pressed for something that mattered so little. “Thanos. To torture someone who is only trying to survive after being taken against their will, it’s-!” 

“Cha,” Thanos warned.

“I will not let you harm an innocent woman while I am on this ship. As a man of faith, I know we have met her in this colony trillions of miles from her homeworld of terra because it was meant to be. You can’t harm her, not now.” Thanos didn’t remark right away, he wouldn’t, or his patience would break. 

He clenched and unclenched his fists and settled before saying: “Then what do you suggest?” 

***

[Katiya]

Meanwhile, Kat crept down a large corridor, eyes intent on the white orb between her hands while shifting through plains of reality and time so the guards wouldn’t see her. It was a strange power to her even now and took just about every ounce of focus to keep it going. The guards ran past in blurry visions, a clutter of images and voices thrumming inside her ears. But her concentration tore in two at the sound of a light giggle, a sound almost alien in this environment.

Katiya lowered her orb to spot two figures rippling before her in a vision of the past. Thanos appeared to be the same, his body absent of the heavy armor he wore in the colony of Olveridge. His robe exposed his muscular chest and powerful arms with a large cloth draped around his waist like a belt, dangling between black pant legs tucked into heavy boots. 

The large male knelt before a small green child with red hair. “Look here, Gamora,” Thanos’s voice carried across the vast hall, his back to Kat.   
Gamora, as he called her, had been holding his hand then turned to him. With a shift of his broad shoulders, he removed a tiny wrapped box from his pocket and offered it to her. Kat moved around them, eyes on the small semblance of a present. Gamora’s tiny green fingers grasp the small object, gazing at it in wonder.

“What is it?” Gamora crinkled her nose.

“It’s a gift,” he said without a smile, but his tone was gentle. 

The girl shook the box gently to hear a small thunk of something solid inside. 

“But first you must tear the wrappings off so you can see it.” 

He helped her at first before she brushed him away and finished opening it. The paper fell away until a box remained. Gamora gently removed the lid only to produce a wicked-looking, glimmering metal object.

“Here,” Thanos said and took it from her. With the press of his thumb on the ruby at its center, blades sprang out on both ends. The girl recoiled and stared at it in wonder. “Pretty, isn’t it?” he asked, balancing it on the tip of his finger. “Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. Too much tilt in one side…” He pivoted the knife on his fingertip until it was nearly falling, “Or the other…” he tilted it the other way until it teetered before catching it and held it out to the girl. “Here. You try,” he offered. 

It was unexpected but, at that moment, the mountainous figure almost resembled the nurturing manner of a father. Gamora took it gently and tilted the knife back and forth on her finger like him while Kat watched the reflected light dance on the girl’s face.

The vision faded while sweat beaded on Kat’s forehead as her ball of light faded. Her breath became labored pants as the spell continued to drain her energy. Hurrying on, she found it fruitless to read the indiscernible symbols outside doorways. Left with no choice, she relied on deductive reasoning to discover where the escape pods could be. 

Around the next corner, she bumped into a guard, jostling him. The reptilian eyes shot back towards her but saw nothing, then glared at another guard at his side and shoved him. The next second both males flew at each other as Kat ducked into the next room to avoid being mauled. 

…

The sound of the door made both men pause and look towards the entrance but seeing no one there they continued on their conversation. Thanos stooped over his food while he listened to his orange companion a few seats away. 

“Well, I believe she is not a threat,” the orange alien said. “We should be able to capture her and assure the girl we mean her no harm.” 

“And what if she is dangerous? What if she isn’t so easily captured?” Thanos asked. 

“Come now, Thanos. She appears to be no more trouble than a purinium fly!” Just then a gust of wind startled both men, making them look towards the door, their eyes now falling on her directly. At the edge of the room, the guards came to attention, training their weapons on her as she raised her hands slowly. 

Seeing this, the orange alien leaned his forehead on his fingertips with a sigh, “Oh dear.”

Katiya withered under the gargantuan man’s gaze. It was the worst time to run out of energy for her spell. She panted lightly, fixing her robe drooping on her shoulder. It was easy to surmise who was the master of the ship judging from the guards surrounded the giant, waiting for his order. Unphased, Thanos raised an upturned hand, gesturing to the chair before her. 

“No,” she said. The other alien’s eyes flickered over nervously between them. 

“Please. I insist,” said their leader. His deep voice was gentle, but there was a danger behind his eyes. Katiya inched further into the room, knowing armed guards waited at the entrance behind her should she try to run. Her eyes met his again. 

“Thanos,” she tried. The rise of his powerful chest told Katiya she had remembered it right. “Your name is Thanos, that is what Maw called you.” She sat gently in the seat, folding her hands in her lap as she struggled to sustain an air of confidence. 

“You have an impeccable memory in the face of great trauma,” the orange alien said, impressed. His eyes were gentle and his grin pleasant. “My name is Cha.”

“Katiya,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips in finding at least one friendly person. 

“Katiya,” Cha tried. “Beautiful. Don’t you think, Thanos?” He turned his head to the purple man, watching the woman in silence.

After a brief pause, Thanos leaned forward on his elbows. “How did you get past my guards?” he asked, ignoring Cha. His friend knew Thanos wouldn’t relent until an explanation sated his curiosity. 

“Like this,” she said, lifting her hand as a golden light emitted from her fingers. Her eyes fell on the wineglass before her. Waving her hand slowly to one side, it vanished before curling her hand back the other way and the cup reappeared. Thanos’s blazing red eyes observed the magic dancing between her fingertips, like twinkling stars entrapped within her palm. Under his gaze, a wave of heat passed over her ears and cheeks before a servant placed a dish before her. She eyed the substance with slight disgust. 

“Go ahead,” Thanos said. “eat.” Katiya picked up a utensil with a trembling hand and scooped some gruel up towards her lips. The taste bit her tongue, but she forced it down before coughing. A deep rumble rose from the head of the table, Kat lifted her eyes to see Thanos smirk. He then placed a glass of clear liquid next to her, Kat scrutinized it with narrowed eyes. 

“It’s only water,” he promised with a grin. “Try it.” She gently took ahold of the goblet, lifting it to her pursed lips. The cool water soothed her raw throat after screaming only an hour ago. 

Once she finished, the servants drew forward to remove the empty glass along with other empty dishes. Kat observed the thin, reptilian people as they worked, concluding they were part of a unique race apart from the guards judging from their lack of grey and black plated flesh. Instead, these reptiles were thinner with the scales of green, yellow, orange, and red. 

“Would the lady like a second helping?” a female servant asked her. Katiya turned to the golden eyes above the orange woman’s purple cloth that concealed her snouted face framed by straight black hair. 

“N-no,” she looked back down at her barely touched food. “I’m full.” She handed her plate over, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Cha frowned, seeing this. When the servant went to the door, Kat’s eyes flickered over to watch the woman dial on the pad. The exotic symbols were hard to discern from each other, but she did everything she could to memorize the seven-digit passcode. Noticing Cha staring, she turned back to the two men. 

“I would like to return to my room now,” she tried despite her hunger. 

“Not before we discuss these powers of yours,” Thanos said. That would not happen. The last thing she wanted was for them to figure that out, and the second the door opened, Kat kicked back her chair before vanishing again. 

“Close the door!” Thanos roared. But the stunned female servant stood in the threshold for a moment too long and got shoved aside by something unseen.

“Get the guards to the bow, starboard side! Lock the pods!” Thanos boomed. Cha brushed past the servant with a polite ‘Excuse me’. The two left Thanos alone to empty the large goblet of crimson juice still gripped in his hand. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, striding over to the entrance before his thick finger pressed the control panel. The door shut and locked. 

“I’m glad you sent them off,” Thanos said before a screaming vibration tore into Kat’s consciousness and sent her to the ground crying in agony. She pulled her hair until it let up. Horrified, she stared at her now visible lap. Her spell had broken. With a gasp, she stood and turned to Thanos smirking down at her, a gleam in his eye when faced with her indignation. 

“How?” she asked. 

“You don’t have the slightest clue about the abilities you will find across the universe,” he said. “They spoiled you for far too long out in that little colony.” He stepped over and wrapped his hand around her neck, tilting her head back with his powerful thumb. With one flex of his hand, she would be dead. Seeing Katiya so helpless, her flinching face squinting up at him, waiting for his next move, aroused a feeling within his chest.

‘Aren’t you going to kill me?’ she asked inside of his mind. Taken aback seeing she knew he would enter again; he sneered and shook his head. 

‘Why should I?’ he asked. 

‘Because you killed everyone else already. Why don’t you just finish the job?’ she asked, her hand climbing up and pressed into the back of his, holding it closer. 

Just then the door opened, overridden by a master key. “Thanos, we couldn’t find her upstairs,” Cha said, stopping to see the girl within the grasp of the ship’s commander. 

“Thanos!” he shouted, rushing over with his fists clenched. “You said you would spare her!” Thanos reflexively let go, and the girl vanished immediately. Cha felt a slight body brush by him before Thanos sent him to the wall with his massive bulk charging past. 

Her captor gained as Kat took three steps at a time in the climb to the second deck. Inside the docking bay, the guards saw only a glimmer of the woman as their leader strode in, shouting orders for them to lock all escape pods. Frustrated guards headed straight for the pods, but Kat was ready. She rewound time over and over, making them useless as they keep restarting at their posts until she could enter one pod. This left the mystified guards only able to assess her appearing at the door of one pod out of nowhere. 

Kat slammed the door in their bewildered faces and set the course at random before punching the launch button. The escape pod took off while Kat laughed, waving back at the roaring guards only visible through a small vacuumed sealed window. But her triumph was short-lived. 

In a flash, pain pierced her skull, collapsing her legs. Kat’s mind reeled from the convulsing shocks throughout her system while the pod slowed down. Pinned to the floor, she helplessly felt the thrusters shift and change direction, a direction that made her stomach clench. 

Backward.


	5. Death's Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captured by Thanos once again, Katiya is studied by The Mad Titan to find the origins of her strange powers. While her health seems to decline, Katiya faces Thanos's own dark compulsions...

[Thanos]  
The images pulled from Katiya's mind intrigued Thanos; unfamiliar scenes of open fields and lush forests, sunlight bathing a serene landscape in the brightest gold. Flashes of smiling faces and echoing laughter came with unspoken confirmation: a family from a previous life now living in distant memory. Simplicity had always been a foreign concept to the titan. Acquainted, instead, with a childhood inside an endless steel forest with its glass skyscrapers, overcrowded streets, and then to have it end inside of warships. Curiosity tempted him deeper before such depictions cut off entirely when she blacked out.

Once the pod safely docked, they found her collapsed on the floor. An angry scowl darkened Thanos's expression. His fingers curled into the material on the back of the girl's healing gown, a soft moan escaping her lips when he lifted her. Being so close to her now made it impossible to stop Gwenth's face, a titanian woman he had fallen in love with as a boy decades ago, from resurfacing in his memory. But even Gwenth paled to this human's beauty. Thanos cradled her prone form inside the crook of his arm, hesitating when her head rested on his chest. He pulled her closer.

Turning back to his men, they jolted from their stupor and retreated quickly to make a path. Thanos carried his small burden with a new pensivity, though his gaze wavered back to her, catching the notice of every soldier. His mind flooded with what it could mean to have this newly added strength to their forces. These abilities of hers were... disconcerting. 

Down in the hull of the ship, Thanos's pace slowed to a halt when the girl's eyes fluttered open, taking their time to adjust and land on Thanos's glowering expression. Locking eyes, Thanos lifted one enormous hand to brush away a delicate curl falling into her face. She flinched and slapped his hand away. A pregnant pause grew between them, now alone in the secluded hallway.

"That is the last time you get a moment's taste of freedom," he muttered before entering another room. Panicked, the woman quickly took in her surroundings out of caution. Tanks and tubes filled shelves and lined the wall with gore and screaming faces of nightmarish creatures, peering out with milky dead eyes. Gently, he laid her down on an icy steel table, sliding a thin pillow over to cushion her head. She clenched her teeth and reached up; a pleading tear fell from her cheek. He turned from her, but the pressure of her hand on his powerful forearm made him look back.

"Please," she whimpered. Her mannerisms conveyed exhaustion, deprived of sleep and food.  
Without responding, he pressed her arm to the table, his hand squeezing only a little as a warning before strapping it down. She watched him circle around before swinging the side of her fist at his face with a roar through gritted teeth. Thanos caught it just as easily and made no response when securing it. Next, he moved onto her legs. She kicked and screamed uselessly as he caught both, one hand encircling them, then locked them into place. Now fixed to the table, she threw her head back and forth trying to scream, issuing only a dry soft cry from her raw throat.

Coolly he drew a long syringe from the surgical tray, pulling blue liquid from a small bottle into it before flicking the glass. Unable to fight, Kat only whimpered as he injected the fluid into the inside of her elbow. Patiently, he waited at her side as her muscles relaxed before taking hold of a surgical knife.

"You have an impressive talent for defying orders," he said, the blade flashing in the light above wide, terrified eyes. "But I surmise these abilities you possess may be of some use to me. First, I must know how they work." He lowered the knife to her midsection. Kat sucked in her stomach, moving it as far as she could away from the blade.

"But the question is, will you show them to me, or will you force my hand to find the answers myself?" It would be effective to slice into her stomach to force her to defend herself, but then he risked slicing a major artery. The human anatomy remained all but unknown to him. He glanced at her neck. The muscles spasmed when she swallowed, expecting anything. Reluctant, his thick fingers moved behind her gown's collar and tugged at the knot there, undoing the top half. A vivid image of the unmarked, pale flesh underneath her robe, like an expanse of white virgin snow, entered his mind.  
He grasped the material covering her chest and slipped it down slightly, the round shape of her breast now apparent. "No," she whimpered, shaking her head.

A pause.

"Please." Helpless tears welled in her eyes. Another shift inside of him made release his grip, withdrawing from the table. The trembling girl before him remained under the hum of his glaring surgical lights as she blindly stared around the room in search of him.  
He stood back for what seemed like hours as he watched her search for him, blind and helpless but never tapping into her abilities. Why wouldn't she defend herself? What was in the way of her trying to kill him?

Soft ringlet curls pillowed her head as she leaned back on the cushion, those cerulean eyes finally settling on him. That same moment a tremor came over him, a chill frosting the very marrow of his bones. He inhaled deeply and relaxed his body as two pale arms manifested from behind his head and wrapped around his neck. Heated desire swelled within his stomach as he felt breasts pressed against his scalp. He recognized his visitor within an instant as cold, pale lips brushed his jaw, sending shivers down his spine.

Death.

'My love...' a seductive whisper called to him. 'What is this?' Thanos strode over, unlocking one arm restraint and took hold of Katiya's arm before a spindly hand pressed his knife down to her wrist.

"Consider this my offering," he muttered to The Lady as her clawed, bony fingers massaged his broad shoulders. The blade pressed into the woman's flesh. Red beads of blood only drove him to cut further.

This was surgery. The face of his victim had all but disappeared, while the desire to tear and rip into this specimen only intensified. At his side, Thanos's lover formed out of a cloud of mist, solidifying as he drew the knife down again. The girl screamed, unable to pull her arm out of his grip as the blade dug in, creating another river of blood streaming into the drain.

"Thanos!" Katiya finally cried out his name in anguish, disrupting the spell as the pillar of mist vanished completely. As if woken from a dream, Thanos blinked, taking in the knife gripped in his hand along with the blood. His scarlet eyes traced the blood flowing into the drain to the pool at his feet and up to the ghastly wound on Katiya's arm. Stunned, Thanos relinquished her wrist, letting it fall as she watched him in silent terror, her chest heaving with a wrinkled brow.

Judgment.

He turned away in disgust. It was uncharacteristic for Thanos to be at a loss for words, but he couldn't explain what had transpired. The girl wouldn't have seen Death. Lady Death only appeared to him. The heat of shame boiled in his stomach. Now abandoned with her watching him; the wound bleeding out while her mind buzzed with thoughts, thoughts he would rather not hear.

"I will do as you wish," she said, her voice wavering in her shaken state. Surprised, Thanos lifted his head at her words. Katiya flexed her hand with the same golden light burning around the delicate fingers like a translucent glove. He tried to ignore the tears brimming in her eyes as he returned to the controls without a word while she held her hand up towards the panel of magnetic imaging screens. The rapid heartbeat on the monitor revealed her fear.

"Stay still. It will be over shortly," he said. She nodded calmly, blood still streaming from her wrist, soaking into her healing gown. He pressed a few buttons, setting the machine to life as its arm extended and drifted over her while it scanned the phenomena happening inside her body. The light outlining her brain's activity on the screen revealed the glowing organ within her skull, every gyrus lit up. From the images, Thanos found himself unable to discern its origin with every fold in her brain engaged. Another observation was the spike in heat, a red glow emanating throughout the rest of her body.

The arm lowered, but his other scanners remained humming next to her temples. "Is this enough?" she glared over to him. Unperturbed, Thanos found such a strong demeanor in a woman pushed to such lengths and still willing to fight him imprudent, if not fascinating.

"I'm afraid not." He turned the lasers onto her arm. She gasped and writhed on the table, squeezing her eyes shut as the beam scorched any chance of infection and stopped the bleeding. Once it withdrew, Thanos approached, taking hold of some medical wrappings on the way, and dressed the wound carefully.

The moment his flesh touched hers a twinge radiated from her mind more powerfully than before, though it didn't require much exploration to find her resentment for him even stronger now.

He smirked. "Unfortunately, I must scan your brain for a few more hours," he answered. Terror entered her expression, anxiously glancing around at the dead things surrounding them. Electric pulses in her brain lit up like a beacon from his words as he turned towards the door letting his machines do the rest of the work.

"No," she shook her head. "You can't leave me here. I'll just bust out again."

"I count on it," he said over his shoulder. At the door, he typed into the lock as she thrashed against the table. "Though, you will have to get past my security system. But I would be cautious. Some of these machines may kill you."

…

Hours passed since Thanos had been in the lab scanning Katiya’s extraordinary manifestations of energy. With such a discovery in possibilities, he found himself unable to sleep. Finally giving up the endeavor, Thanos stormed into the dining hall with disgust. The servants didn’t let their notice of a crimson substance covering his hands apparent as he made his way to the table. 

A deep frown etched into his countenance as he wiped the blood onto a cloth napkin, knocking the silverware to the floor with a loud clatter in his haste. One draconian male scurried over and quickly gathered them before replacing it with a fresh roll, though Thanos made no comment. Far too many pressing matters busied his mind.

They needed another ship, one that didn’t stink of rot. Deeply troubled, the steaming bowl of ground meal did little to comfort him. He ate in silence, recalling Death laying her head on his shoulder while he sliced into Katiya. He swore he saw the empty sockets staring at the human while she lay on the examination table.

‘What is this?’ The Lady asked before she let him go, fading into the eternal shade where he could not follow.

Thanos knew better than to beg, to never call, or bring attention to her and risk upsetting the Lady.

Death, a silent observer, loved when he tortured people. Thanos surmised it was the girl’s terror and pain that drew the Lady, not a desire to see him. An icy wall fell in his heart to stop the painful realization rooting itself there. He wondered if it would ever change. What more could he do?

He stopped mid-chew, detecting movement out of the corner of his eye. In a furtive glance to the far end of the room, his gaze fell upon the human once again standing there in her dirty gown, glaring at him. Astonished by her abrupt materialization, two of his guards quickly went to seize her, but he barked the order to stand down. To his advantage, there was no escape with all the pods now secured and impossible to access without the passcode.

Thanos had to admit that she impressed him. An alert had not gone off, and his guards didn’t spot her until she allowed them. She even swiped a nasty looking surgical knife, intending to kill him with it.

Katiya ignored the guards, making her way around the table to face him on the opposite end. Smart. She knew that he was more dangerous up close, though she had fallen victim to him almost two kilometers apart in the escape pod.

A ghost of a smile graced his lips, “How did you get past my security bots?” The girl pressed her lips together, not giving away the secret in case she needed it to escape again, Thanos surmised.

“The vents,” he gleaned from her mind. Her eyes widened, the panicked realization of his abilities entering her thoughts.

“And how did you unlock the bindings?” He knew she wouldn’t answer that either but prompting with a question brought the answer to her mind once again. In her recollection, she had stared at the locks, watching them rot before they fell off. So, she could speed up the time even when concentrated on objects, he gathered. A wicked grin spread over his lips seeing such wild rage fill her entire demeanor, a powerful emotion he was all too familiar with.

“If you would stop reading my thoughts,” she growled. “Perhaps I would give you less trouble.”

“I honestly don’t believe that. And you leave yourself open enough,” he teased. Katiya stabbed the knife into a stack of sliced meat on the serving tray before taking hold of a full chalice between her hands. The girl was careful as she raised the crimson liquid to her lips, perhaps thirsty from having nothing to eat or drink for several hours and downed the juice entirely.

As she drank, a change in the air caused him to lean forward with a sneer. “Try your abilities on me as much as you wish, but there are far too many guards around for you to handle, girl.” As a response, the hold on him released as she set down the empty goblet. He gestured to the seat at the far end of the table.

“Sit.”

Her eyes followed his motion towards the chair before her but didn’t move. Instead, she plucked round fruits off the plate set for Cha. A smirk tugged at the corners of Thanos’s lips, knowing Cha would cringe at such table manners. The moment she bit into the fruit it burst in her hand. She stared at the blue juice running down her wrist in bewilderment. Such a reaction was that of a child who first discovered gob-gob berries, popular throughout this part in the universe. Even Titan grew a nice harvest of them each year. They were sweet and hydrated the consumer with its overabundance of juice inside each round fruit. The juice dripped from her full lips before she licked them with a stained tongue.

He chuckled, making her glare. “When are you letting me go?” she asked, her cheeks glowing red with embarrassment.

“Let you go? Why would I do that?” he asked with mirth.

“You gave me your word,” she said.

“That is before I knew what you were, what I saw you could do,” he remarked, gesturing to her.

“It doesn’t matter! You promised-!” she shouted, but stopped to cough, a hand covering her mouth. The episode dragged on for a long moment until   
she was panting for air. Her pale complexion had changed since their first encounter in the dining room, her nose and ears now red with dark circles under her eyes.

“You’re unwell,” Thanos said.

“I’m fine,” she replied with a scowl. Thanos rose, taking five long strides around the table until he was before her. She stepped back, grabbing the knife again upon his approach. She was in no condition to resist, judging from the way her body swayed from the effort to stand. With her weapon clutched close, he could almost smell the fear rising off her skin.

Careful, he reached forward when she raised the knife and caught her wrist, forcing her to drop it with a twist of her arm. She cried out and let the knife fall with a rattle before trying to pull her arm free and push him away. He ignored her efforts, pressing her to the wall, and brushed her bangs to the side with his hand. The hot flesh of her forehead revealed his observations were correct. Tilting her chin up with the side of his forefinger, he examined her face, her feebleness evident. Was it from using her powers so much?

“You have a fever,” Thanos said.

“I’m fine,” she insisted again. Thanos moved to press the issue-

Suddenly the room rattled from an explosion, interrupting them. The jolt of the impact threw them off balance, Kat falling foward into his arms, while alarms blared out their warnings while white caution lights flashed above their heads. 

Thanos steadied Kat, his furious eyes searched the room for an explanation. “What was that?” she asked, gripping onto his robe. Thanos didn't answer because he couldn't. Were they under attack? It was a long moment before someone on the intercom called his name.

“Thanos!” Cha’s voice said frantically.

“Cha, what was that explosion?” he asked.

“Thanos, there was a horrible accident. A bomb! They didn’t know, I tried to- It’s terrible! Little Gamora, she-!”

Thanos didn’t have to hear the rest. He let Katiya go and rushed for the door. “Come to the armory!” Cha called from behind him.

Worry clouded his mind as he thought of his daughter. Something unthinkable had transpired. Normally Cha would never let his emotions get away from him. Despite his panic, the sound of bare feet slapping against the tiles behind him made Thanos glance down. With the same urgency, Katiya now ran with him, at his side.


	6. Sorceress of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katiya saves Gamora from a horrible fate, but at what cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.

[Katiya]

Katiya peered around Thanos’s massive bulk while stepping into the crowded armory. A few men lay dead in pools of shredded gore. At the center of the room sat a crater with steaming pipes and sparking wire, Kat surmised it to be the blast’s origin.

Had no one survived? From the size of the damage, and the panels still falling from the ceiling, Kat concluded no one would be around to reveal what happened.

Turning from the destruction, Thanos immediately shouted questions to the others, searching for a witness. His furious gaze fell on one guard crouched down to check the pulse of his subordinates. The titan stalked over to him.

“Where is my daughter?” he snarled, “Where is Gamora!”

Alarmed, the guard stuttered a response, cowering under his master’s glower. “We haven’t seen her. The little one was said to have come this way, but we can’t be sure,” he flinched.

This did not satisfy the titan. With a deep growl, Thanos flipped the remains of one silver table, smashing the piece of furniture against the metallic wall with a thundering crash. Shaken by Thanos’s rage, Kat shuddered at the booming vibrations of his following demands and turned away.

An object in the room's corner caught her attention. Propelled forward, Katiya ran towards a small body lying under a table along the wall. Quickly falling to her knees in the snaking trails of green blood, she crawled on the broken tile, reaching out to the prone form.

Kat turned the child’s head to see Gamora staring at her in death. The gaping hole in the girl’s chest caused Kat to press her knuckles to her lips and withdraw.

Flashes of the attack on Olveridge rushed to the front of her mind, and with it came Dy-Ya’s expression when she died. The same absence now filled this child’s eyes. The gruesome image churned her stomach, but she didn't look away.

Trembling hands reached for the bleeding wound but paused, hovering over the gore. Biting back a sob forming in her throat, she closed her eyes and called upon the warmth building inside her stomach, pushing it out of her hand in pulsating waves, a light forming in her palm-

The urge to cough interrupted the spell, an unshakable itch taking over her throat. She covered her mouth as the tingling of the magic faded. It seemed she wouldn’t be able to reverse time on Gamora alone, it would take too much energy to hone into one small spot of reality.

Hopeless tears clouded her vision as she glanced back to Thanos, finding him watching her. His eyes held hers for a moment before falling to the body on the ground.

“No,” his voice dim. He was at Kat’s side in an instant, kneeling beyond the table’s edge, ducking down to reach a large hand out to the little one, gesturing for Kat to bring her out to him. Kat complied, careful of the wound while lifting the child into her father’s arms.

Slowly he straightened up, his face collapsing at the sight of the slain youth he now cradled tenderly. The man uttered not a sound, but his face twisted in agony and pressed his forehead against his daughter’s. Breathy sobs issued from his trembling lips as Thanos curled his fingers into the girl’s thick braided hair.

“Gamora,” he whispered, his voice soft, a finger tracing over her round cheek, one tear formed its trail down his long jaw. Katiya stood up, clutching her hands before her heart as she blinked away tears while the guards maintained at a respective distance.

Cha, who had been quietly observing from the door, came over, watching Thanos close Gamora’s frightened eyes with his hand. They stood there in silence for a moment.

“Thanos, I am so sorry I wasn’t fast enough,” Cha choked, his head bowed as he clutched his prayer beads. Thanos didn’t respond, his expression clouding over.

Unable to stand the heavy weight filling the room as Gamora lay dead, Kat knew she had the ability to change this; she knew she could. Kat clutched the healing gown’s skirting, still stained with her blood, and stepped forward, squeezing her eyes shut to focus.

Since the moment she received her powers, Kat understood that time flowed in a chain of sequences, scenes all streaming in one cord in one plane of reality. This reality had a torrent, a heartbeat, that only she could see. The manifestation of this life-stream laid on the shattered flooring as a golden cord of light, stretching into the crater like webbing.

With a steady hand, she reached out and took hold of it while her physical body stood behind her, shielded by reality’s faded curtain. In this form, there was not a soul to see what she was doing.

Utterly alone, Kat gave a light tug on the line. The motion sent a huge palpitation through her brain. She pulled again and the size of the crater shifted, pieces flew back into the pit, gathering like dust in beams of light. The sense of nausea increased while she continued until she was panting from the strain.

Meanwhile, Thanos put his daughter down as a ghost of herself pressed the body back under the table and retracted out to the hallway with him. Then the guards quickly filtered out before a distressed Cha backtracked into the room. He found Gamora before searching around frantically and then retreated in reverse once again.

Around the armory, the bodies twitched and rose. Gamora slid out from the table, flying back to the crater where a table recreated itself. A powerful plume of fire vanished into a strange-looking device before a group of guards and workers.

Katiya paused for a moment.

A flashing red light emitted from the mechanism with Gamora’s round eyes locked onto it. Katiya edged forward in time a little. Gamora reached up, pressing the light, and set off the explosion. Before it threw the child’s body again, Kat caught hold of the progression, undoing the carnage.

Coughing, she sent herself hurtling back several minutes while her head pulsated with debilitating pain. It was enough to make her stumble the moment she opened her eyes.

There she found herself back in the dining room, fruit juice once again staining her palm. It was where her physical body was the moment before the blast. 

Thanos smirked, about to say something before she took off for the door.

“Where are you going?” He stood, the guards blocking her way. Desperate, Katiya turned to him.

“Thanos, something terrible is happening!” she shouted. The guards grabbed her.

“Get off! You don’t know what you’re doing!” They snarled back, pinning her to the wall before the explosion rattled the ship.

“What was that?” Thanos turned to her with suspicion.

“No!” she cried out, ripping her arms free just to be pinned by the neck, scepters pointed at her, crackling with an electric current.

Cornered, she reached into her abilities. A familiar overwhelming burn filled her lungs this time, and a fresh wave of nausea from her churning stomach made her wretch. But none of this compared to the skull-splitting pain in her head. She dropped the cord in one hand, coughing so hard that she bent over to the point of gaging.

Finally settling, she gasped, pulling air back into her aching lungs. Suspended and waiting, time hovered like a dam ready to burst. The temptation to resume time held within her grasp appeared more attractive by the second. It was easy just to forget this foolishness, to let the girl remain dead and have Thanos mourn his tragic sudden loss.

But the soft sound of Gamora’s giggle entered her mind, resurfacing from the memory she had found when Thanos handed her a knife. Then the scene changed to a bonfire with Dy-Ya laughing while telling other mön'nbara stories, her arms wide during her theatrics.

‘What I wish I had done back then. And what I’ve feared doing all these years,’ Katiya thought. ‘I have to try.’

The pain in her stomach didn’t lessen, and the headache became an acute piercing agony, blinding her. On the verge of vomiting, Kat knew her empty stomach mercifully had nothing to spare. Crouching down, her fingers met the rough cord, curled around it tightly, and she jerked it back. 

…

The world opened again on the single berry held between her fingers, the moment before she bit into it. Kat dropped the fruit and ran for the door. Instantly, the guards crossed their spears to block her.

“Where are you going?” Thanos rose from his chair.

Faced with being detained again, Kat’s mind fixed on the impending catastrophe in the armory, Gamora’s expression in death, and the tiny finger reaching towards the blinking red button.

A guard grabbed her arm.

"Thanos,” she turned to him, pleading while she twisted in their painful grasp. “Something terrible is about to happen, it’s Gamora!” she shouted. The guard yanked her forward. “Thanos, she will die.” The guard paused, looking to his master while a recognizable shiver entered her body. She closed her eyes, allowing him to enter her mind and find the truth for himself.

Thanos inhaled sharply, when she opened her eyes again, she discovered the same shock housed within his crimson irises. He had seen it, the death of his child.

“Let her go!” he roared. The guards obeyed.

She burst through the doors as the titan followed close behind, running down the hall, shouting for others to clear the way. With their leader close behind, they obeyed Katiya’s demands.

As they ran, Katiya couldn’t help but marvel at the change of circumstance. It had been only yesterday he thwarted her means of escape, but now pressed with a new urgency they were running together toward the same purpose: to save Gamora.

When they reached the door, the explosion sent them stumbling back; the blast reaching out with its fiery tendrils. Kat shielded her face from the blaze as the sprinkler system kicked on, killing the flames quickly. 

Nearly knocking her over, Thanos brushed past her. Dismayed, Katiya collapsed on the threshold, the icy droplets pelted her face as she stood there numb. But water wasn’t enough to extinguish one pulsating line of burning yellow before her.

Time waited like a serpent on the floor as she observed the people inside under the torrential showers. The fog of her breath shielded her from the tragedy before her. Cold, she knelt down, shivering and weak, fully aware she would die with this next pull.

[Part 2]

[Katiya]

The sharp ache filled her chest first this time. She clutched a hand over her heart and locked her jaw. In rasping gasps, her lungs seemed unable to hold more than shallow breaths between all the pain. She hacked, the metallic taste of blood pooling on her tongue. Under that golden cord in her grasp, Kat glimpsed the blurry outline of her trembling legs though they were numb.

If she continued, her suffering would only worsen.

Did she dare pull it?

Would she survive?

There was no guarantee she would be able to make a difference anyway-

-Katiya refused to think further, any reasonable thought would turn her away from continuing. She panted hesitating as blood drooled past her lips. After a few blinks to clear her vision, Katiya looked ahead to the father brought to his knees in his grief. His large hands held the body close.

Katiya watched them for what she believed would be the last time and grimaced. After a sharp inhaled, she yanked the cord again.

…

Agony, brutal and unrelenting. Her mind now overtaken by the ringing in her skull. To keep herself from blacking out, Kat screamed, remaining cognizant for the misery coursing throughout her entire body, sinking its teeth deep into her bones.

..

.

Thirty seconds, that was all she could muster now.

When Kat let go, Gamora was reaching for the red light once again.

“No!” Kat shouted. Her legs moved before her mind, throwing herself on her knees to embrace the girl. But before Katiya reached her, a flurry of painful impacts sent her back to the ground, struck by the same child she wished to protect.

Stunned, Katiya lay on the floor panting, blinking up to Gamora’s glare. Kat choked, rolled over, and coughed up a good splotch of blood into her palm.

The girl muttered something in her language before the door opened and Thanos stormed in. His powerful stature tense as he scanned the room, but then relaxed seeing Gamora safe.

He strode over, reaching out to her gently. “It’s all right,” he soothed, kneeling to lift her. Tiny arms wrapped around his muscular neck as he held his child close.

Both father and daughter regarded her at arm’s length in silence. Kat climbed to her feet with help from one of the guards but knew she was too weak to stand for long. And once they secured the device in a holding cage for proper examination, the room appeared to settle.

“You saved my daughter,” Thanos said gently. “You had no reason to and yet you did.” Kat wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. The blood on her knuckles told her there might be more smeared on her face. She blushed, bowing her head to hide behind her hair.

“Yes,” she nodded. “Who wouldn’t?” Thanos’s eyes fell to her hands, something strange brewing in his expression. Quickly she pulled them behind her back.

After hearing this, Gamora shoved at Thanos’s chest, and he let her down before the child fled the room. Katiya watched her go.

“Do not take her reaction personally,” Thanos said. “I do not accustom her to visitors, much less women. I’ll talk to her.”

“You aren’t going to destroy it?” Katiya asked, gesturing to the device.

“No, we take tech from planets were conquer and lean from their weaponry,” he said.

“Do they always attach bombs to them for you?” she asked. Thanos chuckled at the innocent questioning.

“They did not set it for me especially. They set it to go off for anyone that would try to examine the tech, protecting themselves from having their technology used against them,” he explained.

Kat nodded and, feeling tired, opened her mouth to excuse herself from the room when her face clouded over. She winced and doubled over, grabbing her head. The faces of all the room’s occupants now focused on her.

Even he, even Thanos stared as the room faded in and out.

Suddenly a new wave of energy built up within her, issuing from the magic she had tapped into, now threatened to consume her. Afraid, she forced the energy out, forming a large barrier between her and the others.

It was happening again. She had pushed too far.

Afraid of hurting anyone, she backed away towards the wall. Nails digging into her scalp as she clutched her head. 

Control was slipping and…

She might kill them all.

...

[Thanos]

Thanos alone stepped towards the wavering bubble of power, sensing the utter chaos of this untapped energy bursting from her small body. It seemed incomprehensible for a small mortal to produce such power.

Streams of magic overflow slithered in the air towards him but were deflected with his own mental abilities, like a stone in a rippling tide.

Noticing his approach, Katiya screamed, throwing out a hand in warning.

“Don’t come any closer!” she warned, eyes wide with terror.

Thanos ignored the feeble command and pressed into the brilliant light, raising his hands with gritted teeth to shield himself from the power generated by the woman inside.

Her eyes, now pure white marbles, stared ahead in horror. A scream contorted her face while blood streamed from her nose and eyes like crimson rivers, floating up off her face. Her golden curls floated above her head as if this power submerged her in a glowing sea.

Penetrating through the shield’s resistance, he took hold of Katiya’s hand, sending waves of agony to his brain. Jaw clenched, he fought back the urge to let go as jolt after jolt shot into him, the torment almost faltering his resolve.

After the initial shock, he pulled her forward, swinging her up into his arms and pressed his forehead to hers. Her screams quieted, while her mouth remained open in a silent cry.

Carefully, his influence entered her mind, mingling with the frenzy inside.

Like a ship breaking through the waves of a storming sea, Thanos ebbed the onslaught of these magnanimous powers, riding them but never overcome. But this storm had no shore or break, so he took the power into himself.

‘Please,’ came a voice. A voice shared between their mingling thoughts. Her voice. ‘Make it stop…’

Images bombarded him in a rush of colors and emotions. A house full of people laughing, fields of flowers, and a farm.

Suddenly a man stood before him, a green glowing pendant hung in front of his chest. This man bowed his head, hair dripping with water as he whispered a word familiar to Thanos as if it were his own name:

“Katiya.”

The woman writhed in his arms and the world vanished to white.

…

..

.

..

…

When Thanos returned to the room, he found Katiya nearly collapsing in his embrace.

“Relent," he growled, their foreheads still pressed together. But she fought on, shoving him away from every corner of her mind when he tried to reach inside.

After a struggle, he burst through her hold and she fell limp, the barrier flickering out like a candle. Once it passed, he stood in the aftermath of the cosmic burst of pandemonium.

Thanos panted, taking in the room’s wreckage and his alarmed guards, weapons ready and aimed. He searched until he found Cha by the door, and his friend quickly read his expression.

“Leave us,” the orange man ordered. The men bowed and obeyed, shutting the door behind them.

Cha hurried forward, gently taking hold of the woman before Thanos fell to his knee exhausted. Katiya remained motionless in Cha’s arms, her face peaceful despite the blood trailing from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

The grey pallor of the girl’s skin worried Cha. He bent down and listened to see if she was breathing. To his relief, a soft rattling breath graced his pointed ear.

“Is she dying?” he asked, checking her pulse.

Thanos nodded.

“What are we going to do?” Cha asked, pressing a tender hand to her forehead, detecting a fever. Thanos was grim, seeing her struggle. This woman had nearly sacrificed herself for Gamora and himself.

Who would do something like that?

He roused himself from his thoughts and finally spoke: “Get me the nullifier.”


	7. Life on Sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katiya recovers from the incident in the armory and Thanos has to come to a difficult decision!

[Katiya]

A small touch pulled Kat from the depths of unconsciousness; a tiny hand pressed against either cheek. Dazed, she opened her eyes fully to see she was once again in her compact room. The soft patter of retreating footsteps made her turn in time to glimpse Gamora dashing out the door. Biting back a giggle at the little one's shyness, she sat up, hair tumbling down her naked shoulders. But something was different. An unfamiliar weight rested on her collarbone. Reaching up, her fingers met a cold metal ring encircling her neck: a collar.

Heart racing, she jumped to her feet, feeling around for an opening or clasp she could use to get it off, but the ring appeared to have no such entity. Kat reached her arms out before her and inhaled, focusing on finding time's golden cord to reverse to the moment they put the band on. Nothing. The familiar sickening tug in her stomach of the universe's influence didn't come. It was as if she was standing in the middle of the room and gesturing around like a fool.

Was the collar Thanos's doing? Kat raised a trembling hand, eyeing her palm in wonder.

"Am I cured?" she asked, unable to believe it possible. Could she really be free from the constant torment, from the ache deep within her, like marrow in her bones?

Relief washed over her, hot tears filling her eyes. Katiya blinked with a sniffle, staring down at herself to see a new healing gown without bloodstains. The horrific recollection of Thanos slicing into her arm made her yank up one sleeve to examine the wound. But the injury, once pouring out blood into a drain, was now dressed in new bandages.

She experimentally flexed her hand before eyeing the threshold, her door still opened. Heart racing, she moved carefully past the light outlining her door, making sure the corridor was clear before stepping into the hall.

They had forbidden her from venturing outside her chamber for so long, and she was unsure if it was a mistake. Kat leaned against the wall to calm herself. The hum of the ship and the cold touch of the metal wall against her naked arm proved she was awake, and that she had somehow gotten out.

Was this a trap?

After weighing the risk of venturing further, her mind slipped back to what happened with Gamora. The tiny limp body, her chest ripped apart by the blast, saving her, the pain, and the security of arms encircled around her, pushing her body against something solid. Then someone's forehead pressed to hers...

Her stomach growled, reminding herself it had been over two days since she ate a substantial meal. Slightly nervous of this sudden freedom, she padded down the hallway, recalling the path she took to the dining hall during her initial escape.

Outside the entrance, two guards came to attention the moment she rounded the corner. Katiya issued a curse between gritted teeth as she prepared to run. She should have predicted they would station guards around the place. But the guards didn't approach, instead one typed into the keypad, opening the door.

Both men bowed an unexpected but appreciated gesture. Tentatively, she stepped between them, half expecting them to grab her, but nothing came of it.

The moment Katiya entered, draconian servants quickly set the table, one bringing over a plate and silverware for her. The bustle of their movements made her feel somehow welcome.

"Greetings," one female servant hailed, grabbing a glass and pitcher of water. Kat's eyes lit up the moment she recognized the golden female pouring the drink before sliding it over, gesturing for her to sit.

"Good morning," Katiya stumbled. The pinch at the corner of the servant's eyes told her that the woman was smiling behind her face covering.

"It is always morning and evening out here," she teased, her soft voice a gentle hush-like hiss. A blush dusted Kat's ears and cheeks as she bowed.

"But I bid you good morning none the less. I believe we will see a lot of each other since he hasn't killed you yet, despite your recent resistance," she said, a statement made with familiarity, not hostility. 

"My name is Kebi and I know yours to be Katiya," she said. Kat nodded shyly as hunger and thirst induced her to take a seat.

After a moment's pause, Kebi gestured toward the food, presenting no intention of leaving: "Eat," she said. Kat listened and gulped down some water, sending herself into a coughing fit while Kebi refilled the glass.

"You already missed him," Kebi reported. "He asked for us to remain here and wait for you." She didn't have to explain who she was speaking of. Even the mention of him made Katiya nervous.

Katiya took a sizable swallow of water before setting the glass down while the other servants returned with trays and bowls of food. The first item they set down in a blue bowl smelled like soil, though the pink slices seemed innocent enough. She placed a piece to her lips. The crunch reminded her of biting into a fresh apple but squeezed her eyes shut at the lingering strong aftertaste similar to a radish.

Next, they brought over a tray of crisp links still sizzling from the oven. They felt rubbery on her tongue, but she found them good enough to have her fill and quickly shoved another into her mouth.

"Careful not to make yourself sick," Kebi chuckled, but Katiya didn't listen and piled on more meat and plant slices, unable to shovel them into her mouth fast enough.

...

Reassured by the odd friendliness of the guards and servants, Katiya returned to her room with nothing more to do than to lie in bed and stare at the wall. Alone, the silence of the ship bore down on her like a heavy blanket, smothering her with anxious anticipation. Left with no other option, she let sleep take over and the world faded to black.

The next three days went identically: she woke, walked down to breakfast, spoke with the servants, and returned to sleep until repeating the process for dinner. It had been days since she last saw Thanos, Cha, or little Gamora. And what appeared like freedom at first turned bitter. No matter where she went, Katiya found all her movements tracked and, should she venture far, a group of guards blocked her way.

To add to Kat's dismay, Kebi hardly frequented the dining hall, and none of the other servants expressed the slightest interest in speaking to her.

On the fourth day, Kat requested to see Kebi at breakfast. The guard quickly left before returning a few moments later with the servant. The familiar smile twinkled in the woman's eyes. The draconian took her place at Kat's side after exchanging a brief 'Good morning'.

"I take it the others aren't as talkative, eh?" Kebi asked.

"No, and I do not understand how I offended them," Kat said.

"Well, maybe they aren't wearing a communicator," she pointed to her chest. Eyes falling to the small black clip, Kat recognized one of Thanos's translators on the front of her uniform.

"Why do you have one while the others don't?" she asked.

"Because he trusts me. I defended him and convinced my people to follow him when we first met," she said.

"So, how did you meet Thanos?" she asked. "Why are you so loyal to him?"

"He gave us freedom," she answered, motioning for Kat to eat. She obeyed and Kebi continued: "We can leave whenever we choose, but why would we? Our enemies overtook our planet and slaughtered my people. Thanos only arrived after to pick up the pieces and took what few survivors we had with him. In return, we wish to serve him. For our loyalty, he protects us with his influence and power."

So Thanos had helped these people, a race who had nothing to give him besides their labor. But then why had Thanos spare the draconians and not the mön'nbara? This only gave Katiya more to chew over when she was alone.

When she finished, Kat stood and thanked the draconians for their hospitality. She then shyly turned to Kebi.

"Are you able to walk with me to my room?" Kat asked. Kebi shook her head.

"Kat-," she began.

"There is nothing to do, and I'm nearly bored to tears," Kat begged. Kebi tilted her head and laughed, looking down at her own hands, then back to her.

"All right, if you don't mind my company," she smiled. Katiya got up, allowing the others to clear the table. The girls went out into the hall only to have the guards block their path.

"She is to return to her quarters alone," a guard said coolly, eyeing Kebi with a frown. Kebi stepped forward, hands on her hips.

"And I suppose you have an alternative? She's always alone, and it upsets her. Do you think Thanos would want to treat the woman who saved his daughter like this? To learn that you had denied a simple request of hers?"

"It is by his command," said the guard, fidgeting in his spot.

"Well, then I would like him to stop me from escorting her." With a scoff, Kebi took hold of Kat's hand, turning her back on the men as Katiya watched in awe.

The moment they reached Kat's room, Kebi was nearly green with envy, peering into the small closet space of a dwelling. "Our bunks are not as nice as your small cot. He treats you well for as far as Thanos's hospitality goes," she chuckled.

"You can come in," Katiya offered, but Kebi stayed in her spot outside.

"I'd rather not," she said. "Thanos will know if anyone but you enter this room." She gestured to the white light outlining the threshold.

"It doubles as a bio scanner, able to recognize your race from the others. I would rather not upset him. But let me know if you need anything." After a brief farewell, Kebi left Kat glaring at the scanner outlining her door innocently in the guise of light.

Yet another collar Thanos had placed on her.

...

[part 2]

[Thanos]

Now you've done it, Cha had said on their way from the armory while Thanos carried Katiya when she was still unconscious and bleeding.

Like a golden feather, the slight burden didn't tax the titan. Cautiously Thanos lay her on the table, resting her head on a thin cushion. Crimson covered her pale lips, yellow hair now a wild tangle, and the ashen white complexion proclaimed her critical condition.

He turned his head to his workstation but hesitated.

"We must hurry," Cha said, scurrying over to turn on the blinding surgical light over the unconscious girl. But a mental tremor stopped him. He turned to the other man. Thanos shook his head.

"We can't risk waking her," he whispered and swept her hair to the side, pulling down her shirt, and placed an adhesive sensor near her heart. The monitor beside the table began beeping to her heart's metronome. Tentatively Cha approached again, as if a resting beast lay on the table.

After a moment, Thanos broke the silence: "You blame me." Cha said nothing, his attention still on the monitor.

"I didn't cause the hemorrhaging," Thanos said, defending himself from Cha's reproach, but it was impossible to know if his words got through.

Inside the mind of this human, Thanos glimpsed her past, inner thoughts, and fear. To someone outside of their intimate exchange, it might have appeared that he overpowered Katiya, making her faint. In reality, he had only placed a stopper on the powers that threatened to consume everything in the room and perhaps beyond.

But Thanos knew he had only quelled whatever storm lingered inside her, no matter this brief disruption. When she woke, there was no telling if those floodgates would burst open again.

"Clean her up while I calibrate the nullifier," he said, stepping over to the workbench before continuing:

Thanos didn't have to ask twice. Cha was immediately at the human's side, gently wiping her nose and mouth, groaning at the amount of blood.

Beyond his shoulder, Thanos noted Cha's squeamishness before stooping over the nullifier. With a deft motion, he pried open its circuit unit and used the synchronization tool, paying attention to the fluctuating readings on the transducer screen as the red meter bounced.

In recent observation, Thanos discovered human delta brainwaves were much smaller than that of the last species under the nullifier's influence. And if left unchecked, the device could paralyze her. Earlier data had her brainwaves pegged at around 10 Hz, with the ultimate capacity at 12 Hz. It would take time to lower to such levels.

"How is she doing?" he called.

"She's breathing," Cha answered. The beep of the monitor confirmed this when two draconian girls stepped in, both bowing deeply.

"We came as soon as we heard the summonsss," one hissed pleasantly. Thanos nodded, not taking his eyes from his work.

Cha turned to them: "Good. We will need you once Thanos finishes."

The room waited in silence until Thanos secured the panel, returning to the table with two halves of the device in either hand.

"Sit her up," he commanded. The women flew forward at his word, careful in lifting the human to a seated position.

Katiya's head fell back lamely on one of their shoulders. Both women tried to hold her steady but were incapable of doing so without leaning her against them. This wouldn't do.

Thanos glanced over to Cha, and his friend placed a hand at either side of Katiya's face, frowning as another stream of blood trickled from her nose. The rhythm of her heartbeat slowed.

"Thanos hurry," Cha said. The titan positioned the collar around the delicate neck, allowing them to pull each other like magnets. He let go, causing the two halves to fly together with a snap. A red light blinked, showing the device couldn't open while it synced with her brain patterns through the nerve column against her spine. When it vanished, Thanos watched her heartbeat return to normal.

"Katiya?" Cha tried.

"Let her rest," Thanos said and ordered that the girls leave them. Cha sighed, collapsing in a chair, and dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Oh my, what an ordeal," he sighed. "But she is a fighter."

"To be honest, I didn't expect her to recover," Thanos said. "Most minds usually break when mine so much as brushes against theirs. Despite being in mortal danger, she still fought until she couldn't." He felt himself smile at that.

"She's strong, stubborn even," Cha replied. Thanos pondered the statement.

"Stubborn?" he paused, watching the girl's chest rise and fall. "Yes. Stubborn Life."

...

Afterward, Thanos did not let his attention to Katiya's recovery fall short. He stationed himself in the lab three times throughout a 24-hour span. Vitals rarely dropped below normal, but when they did, he came rushing back, reprogrammed the collar, and remained until she stabilized. Through the nullifier he recorded her brain activity, learning the neuroscience of the human brain.

Within a week, the instability had died off enough to give Thanos confidence in letting them return her to the bedchamber.

Just shy of fifteen hours later, reports that she had awoken reached him.

"Be sure she has enough food and water and that she doesn't venture beyond the dining hall," he ordered. His minions obeyed, monitoring her movements for their master.

Thanos had to be sure there was no personality alteration. And, according to Cha, she appeared calmer. This was welcome news knowing interruptions to synaptic connections might cause irritation, temper flares, or change personality entirely. But the girl remained composed, active, and even befriended Kebi.

"Kebi," Cha mused. "The same Kebi willing to skin anyone who scuffed up her polished floors."

Thanos stroked his chin, staring out the window as if seeking counsel from the myriad of stars. Katiya had made her foothold in Sanctuary, gaining two allies immediately. And it was no stretch of the imagination to assume Gamora would soon join in their numbers, often venturing to the lab wing whenever she could.

This latest curiosity formed a newfound inspiration in the child. Gamora no longer passed her lessons bored. Instead, her unwavering attention to his lessons allowed her to defeat her foes quickly. And thus, creating a bit of free time for herself, which she normally spent visiting their alien guest while she slept.

"Getting rid of her on the next planet would almost be a waste," Thanos contemplated, though his frown remained.

"Yes," Cha said. "But I thought you were already considering keeping her?"

Thanos grumbled, leaning on his elbows. "After I saw what she did in the armory, I had my doubts. Could I have something so powerful that possesses no self-control around my men and my fleet?" He paused. "But then I see how Gamora looks at her."

He turned to the repeating projection, recorded while Katiya rested. His daughter entered; her enormous eyes locked on the woman lying still in her bed.

"I've never seen her look that way at anyone before," Thanos said. Cha stepped forward to see.

"Perhaps it is a wonderful thing. After having only a father to raise her, a female figure to learn from might be beneficial," Cha offered.

"What about Kebi or Proxima?" Thanos asked as Gamora touched the woman's cheek gently. Katiya's translucent eyelids twitched, and Gamora dashed out of frame before the human raised her head.

Slowly sitting up, Katiya's oversized robe slipped, exposing a shoulder. Her face turned towards him as if just noticing his colossal figure. A smile graced her lips, and she slipped out of bed, stepping towards him before vanishing out of the projection too.

"You know, speaking with her might help you both form an agreement," Cha said.

"And what would that be?" Thanos scoffed.

"That she will stay here and in return, you will help her gain control over her powers," he said. "You know, Gamora might grow from knowing someone like her. And don't forget Nebula-," Thanos rose from his desk, cutting Cha off.

"Before we decide anything. I need to collect more data," Thanos said. "I need to be certain her presence will be more of an advantage than a hindrance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.


	8. Beyond the Threshold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After saving young Gamora's life, Cha convinces Thanos that Katiya should be allowed to tour Sanctuary...

[Thanos]  
Inside one of the many training rooms within Sanctuary, Cha paced back and forth as the large titan bench-pressed weights crafted out of scrap metal. 

“Thanos, can you please just listen to me for a moment?” Cha asked, impatient with the prospect at hand. The gargantuan weights the titan lifted were larger than Cha’s body, but the frail alien did not flinch when Thanos let them drop back onto the rungs with a sizable boom.

Cha cleared his throat, having gained his friend’s attention, “Now I consider you a wonderful friend and hold you in high regard. I also trust that you have the universe’s best interest at the forefront of your mind.” Thanos made no reply, wiping his brow from sweat before dipping a ladle into a bucket and gulped down the cool water.

“You’re our leader. We look to you for guidance and purpose. I hope that purpose remains uncorrupted in the promise of saving others,” Cha said, naïve confidence in his eyes. 

Thanos couldn’t help but envy such optimism. He knew Cha’s feelings about killing after seeing hundreds of planets lose their dominant species several times over. But Thanos had always spared a small sum of the populations to rebuild, a small one percent. This sliver of hope gave Cha faith there was something inside of Thanos like him. Foolish.

When it appeared Cha finished speaking, Thanos continued to lift the massive weights over his chest until his arms nearly gave out. Cha meanwhile meditated on what more he could say until the other man sat up, dabbing the sweat again before guzzling more water. 

“What purpose did you have in coming to discuss this, Cha?” Thanos asked. “If you wish to ask for a favor, then do it. You are aware I dislike mindless dialogue.” His expression was calm when he said this, but Cha knew better than to push his luck. Cha cleared his throat and strode over, sitting down on the bench across from him, watching the stars pass by the window. 

“It’s about the girl,” he began.

“What about her?” Thanos asked, his eyes focusing on an individual nail in the wall, so as not to appear caught off guard. 

“Well, she hasn’t left that small cupboard of a room you have placed her in for a week. We only allow her to eat in the dining hall,” Cha said. “She is a prisoner even after she saved Gamora. And after examining those devices, we realized she had been correct about the explosives. Thanos, they were large enough to blast through two decks. You know we owe her at least some freedom for what she has given you.”

“Given me? She is the one being held on my ship,” Thanos said. 

“Yes, but she had given you your daughter. Without her, Gamora would be gone,” Cha said. Thanos considered that for a moment, Cha was right. 

“What more could I give her?” Thanos muttered.

“She needs exercise, a way to socialize. Something more than just exist,” Cha pressed. The titan scoffed. Cha, always the voice of sympathy and compassion, but it was to Cha’s reason alone that he would listen, besides his own. 

“Do as you wish. I am not her caretaker,” Thanos said. “If the collar is effective, she won’t pose a threat to you,” he replied, leaning forward with his elbows planted on his knees. 

“A threat?” Cha repeated. “I believe she is no danger to anyone, but she has a fighting spirit. Katiya will defy you again, I’m sure.” Cha’s tone filled with amusement at Thanos’s arched brow. 

“How does that nullifier around her neck work exactly?” Cha then asked.

Thanos sighed before answering, “After close examination, it appears her brain sends sporadic pulsating electricity through the synaptic connections between her neurons. Branching off another experimentation I am working on for mind control devices, I fettered the dendrites. This is after noticing the severely high rate of electric impulses still present. If only I could affect the axon as well…” He faded off as Cha tilted his head. 

Thanos translated patiently, “It means it will interrupt the flow inside her brain that allows her to use her powers.” But then, as if struck by a bolt of inspiration, Thanos rose to his feet and headed for the door.

“I will be in my lab,” he said. “Do not disturb me, under any circumstances.” 

“Thank you, Thanos,” Cha bowed. “You are surprisingly kind today. Is it because she saved your daughter, or could it be you can’t stand tormenting a beautiful young woman?” Cha teased. Thanos paused, glaring at his friend from the door. Beauty never held much value to him anymore, but this woman was more than beautiful after witnessing the raw power she wielded.

“My only desire is to silence your constant pestering,” he growled. Cha bent his head with mirth. The titan quit the room; his mind tangled with the golden-haired woman.

…

Down the hall, a small girl waited for her father. She didn’t flinch, nor did she shudder with fear when he approached. She simply looked up and waited for Thanos to come to her. Gamora was truly his daughter through and through. Pride coursed inside him seeing her standing there unafraid and far from being shy. 

“You should be in bed,” he said. 

Gamora only stared at his belt, choosing her words carefully, a characteristic that Thanos had grown to admire most in his daughter. She thought before she spoke, every word weighed before they passed her lips with the same confidence of a war chief. 

“So, it’s true,” Gamora said. The manners between father and daughter were strictly stoic and distant. The fear and closeness Thanos had presented when he thought he had lost her now a distant image from their current correspondence.

“What is?” he asked, not moving towards her. 

“That the human- That she’s the one who saved me,” she said, peering up at him and searched his eyes, scanning him closely for any waver in truth. Thanos taught Gamora never to lie because he never did. It was always best to stick to facts. Otherwise, your memory would have to be impeccable with each web you sew. 

“She did,” he answered, his expression unchanged. 

Gamora bowed her head, reflecting on his answer, then turned down the hallway. Thanos, with peaked curiosity, watched his daughter retreat and turn the corner. 

'She had given you your daughter…' 

The image of blood, Katiya’s blood, covering him. Her panting breath, begging him with her eyes to end it. He clenched both fists and continued walking.

'She had given you your daughter…' 

“Though at what price?” he muttered.

…

[Katiya]

The whisper of the bedroom door opening jolted Kat out of bed. Cha stood beyond the threshold; hands raised; a bundle pressed under his arm.

Kat relaxed and glanced at the mirror, taking in the mess of curls and the way her robe hung off her. Heat ignited on her cheeks as she fixed her top.

“I hope I wasn’t disturbing you,” he said, offering her the bundle of white material past the bio-reader’s threshold. She stepped over, wondering why Cha was unconcerned with the reader. Did Thanos know he was here?

“My purpose in coming is to take you on a quick tour of the ship,” he said. “I believe you wish to have time outside of this dull room.” Katiya’s eyes widened at the news. Yet another opportunity to find an escape. Thinking this, a sense of guilt punched her gut when Cha smiled.

“But first a bath. Poor dear, your hair is so tangled and there’s still dirt on your skin,” he said. Eyes downcast, Kat took the bundle from him before Cha led the way further down the hall.

“You’re welcome to come here whenever you wish,” he said when they turned into a room. The lights hummed and brightened upon their entry, illuminating a space at least twelve times the size of her bedroom.

The bathing facility had an interior of artificial stone covering the floor, walls, and ceiling. The rough texture reminded Kat of the real thing under her bare feet. Long stairs encompassed an enormous oval tub rising out of the floor in the middle of the room.

The tub had to be large enough to fit a small house inside, Kat surmised. At its center, a metallic pillar stood, constricted with a hundred golden faucets while a stone bench circled the tub’s inner wall. In the far corner, bottles of various soaps and oils lined the shelves next to a steam room.

Katiya gripped Cha’s sleeve when he turned to leave.

“Th-thank you,” she stumbled. Cha bowed.

“You don't need to thank me. It is because of him,” he replied. The mere mention of the titan sent a shock through Katiya and she let go.

Why did Cha have to ruin this gift?

Sensing a change, Cha opened his mouth to speak further but shut it again before a brief farewell. 

“I’ll wait out here. Call if you need anything,”he said.

Once the door shut behind him, Kat slipped out of her robe then stepped into the tub.

‘The circular nobs sticking out from the pillar’s mesh of piping must turn on the tap,’ she thought. With a quick twist, the ducts screamed before water rained out of the hundreds of openings, splashing burning water on her toes and into the drain that surrounded them.

She yelped, turning the second nob to even out the temperature. After playing with it, she found the perfect setting and plugged the drain with the flip of a lever beneath the nobs. The steam fogged the room with warmth as the water level rose. Satisfied, she sat on the bench, the faucets automatically cutting off by sensors once the water level was high enough.

With a long sigh, Kat melted into the hot water before plunging under. Submerged, her muscles loosened, a blessing after these past several days. Remaining suspended, she let her mind drift.

Thanos had said she was a prisoner when they first met, but once he witnessed her powers, everything changed. She was free to roam around and, according to Kebi, he had given her a larger room compared to the servants-

But that was before she used her powers. What was she to him? Here she was eating at his table and taking a bath in the same spot he might also-  
Kat came back up, sputtering before smoothing back her hair. 

What in the world was she doing! Quickly she tried to focus on something other than the master of the ship bathing in the same tub. 

Kat’s attention fell on the shelf of bottles, but the labels were impossible to read, and she sided on washing without soap. Once she felt the blood and dirt had been cleansed from her, she reclined against the side, sliding down until the warm comfort of the water covered her shoulders, and she dozed off.

A few minutes later the door opened abruptly, and Cha ran in. Katiya gasped, jumping to her feet before recalling her nakedness and covered her breasts, sinking her body beneath the surface. But the fluttering waves failed to hide anything.

After getting an eyeful, Cha whipped around stammering: “P-please forgive me! I heard nothing for a while, and I became worried something happened. I should have knocked!” The darker orange-tinted his cheeks and ears.

Was he blushing? Cha covered his eyes and continued to beg for forgiveness, backing toward the exit.

“It’s okay. I’m not angry,” she said over his stammering. His shoulders lowered, but he didn’t look at her again. Katiya found his respect touching.

Turned away, Cha continued: “I will leave you alone.”

“No, it’s alright,” she said, not moving closer lest he have a heart attack.

Still anxious, he replied: “I wondered if you wanted to make use of the soaps and oils. I knew you wouldn’t be able to read Transcendiant language, so I wished to offer help.”

“Oh,” she blinked. “Yes. Thank you.”

Cha rummaged around the bottles as Kat watched, still covering herself. He tossed a handful of purple salt into the bath, creating hissing bubbles, a scent like lavender wafted through the air.

“I am the only one who uses these, but I find it essential to take care of your skin. From Thanos’s observations, your anatomy reflects his when he compared the two DNA samples. That means your skin may be close to mine, so these products shouldn’t harm you. If they do, let me know and we will find something on our next stop.” He then instructed on what was for her hair, body, and oils to use afterward. Before leaving, he pulled out a towel and washcloth from a hidden drawer in the stone wall, then stepped out with a polite nod.

Curious, Katiya reached over to one of the bright blue bottles and lathered her hair with a strange clear substance. Next, she scrubbed her body with another product, then rinsed off.

As the tub drained, she massaged flowery smelling oils into her skin, making it soft. A white gown lined with gold waited for her when she got out. Its skirting flowed around her ankles, the loose sleeves split at the elbows and hung by her hands. The bodice stretched perfectly around her chest in two crisscrossing bands, giving it a deep V neck between her breasts.

It was too revealing compared to what she normally wore, but it was nice having clean clothes again. She spun around to view her reflection before her eyes glimpsed something at her feet. A long span of silk must have fallen from the bundle.

Curious, Kat knelt down to find it was a ribbon. After a swift look towards the door, she tied her hair back, fluffing the puffy bun at the top of her head.  
When she stepped out, Cha straightened up, made a quick assessment, then nodded in approval.

“A’bara motive li mor,” he said.

Kat tilted her head, confused. Whatever he said sounded lovely, but she couldn’t understand it. He laughed, then mimicked eating. Kat’s eyes grew enormous, and she nodded rapidly. He gestured to follow, pinning a small translator to her top when she approached him.

“I forgot I had taken it off to give to you. How do you feel?” Cha asked, leaning forward to allow the device to translate. His voice issued from his mouth and the translator. It was not as convenient as having an earpiece to block out the two voices, but she heard his words none-the-less. Kat adjusted the volume, turning the tiny dial.

He frowned when she didn’t answer, “Okay, let me make sure it’s working. Do you remember my name?” he asked.

“Cha,” she replied. “What’s mine?”

“Katiya,” he gave a sideways grin.

“Yes. But I prefer Kat,” she said.

“Well, I prefer Katiya,” he responded. “It’s too beautiful to shorten.” Kat blushed, glancing down. A nervous tap of her foot prompted the alien to offer his arm. She gently slid her own around it. She felt, not alone for once, but a welcomed guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.


	9. Just a Glimpse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanos discovers that Cha got a little more than an eye full of Katiya in the bathroom!!! And what sort of pieces about Thanos's past will Kat discover during her tour of Sanctuary?

[Thanos]

Breathy pants alerted Thanos to Cha’s entry into the lab.

“You… called for me? Is everything… alight?” Cha asked, speaking between labored gasps after having run nearly a third of the ship. He had received word of urgency and left Katiya in the dining hall to answer the summons.

The scientist bent his head towards the door, eyeing the way the smaller male leaned against the threshold.

“Yes, come in,” Thanos said, his attention returned to his project.

Noticing the tiny apparatus between Thanos’s giant fingers, Cha collected himself and entered.

“I was hoping for more firsthand observations on her condition,” Thanos said. “How is she adjusting to the device? Any behavior change, anything out of the ordinary?” Taken aback, Cha shook his head, straightening his robe.

“There’s hardly any change at all,” Cha said. “She appears to enjoy the prospect of going out and seeing the ship, grateful even.” Thanos tilted his head slightly.

Cha continued, “Though she doesn’t credit you. Perhaps she is still angry.”

“Angry?” Thanos almost laughed, his back to Cha. “What does she have to be angry about? I saved her life.”

“She is still your captive,” Cha answered, striding over to the workbench. “At least just from my assessment.”

“Then that is a poor assessment,” Thanos muttered.

“Well, we can prove to her that she is not just your prisoner anymore,” Cha said.

“I see. So, you haven’t come to me with new information,” Thanos said. Cha rubbed his hands together, his eyes darted to the side.

“Not exactly,” he said. Thanos raised his head, one flaming red eye locked onto him. Cha flinched, imagining the press of glass sliding over to expose him entirely under the scrutiny of Thanos’s optic lens.

“If you have nothing more to tell me, then you may go. You seem eager to return to her,” Thanos said, continuing on his work. Cha clasped his hands behind his back.

“A-as you wish,” Cha stammered, turning for the door. Meanwhile, Cha’s mind raced with visions of food, meditations, and alien landscapes. But his uncertain pace doomed his earlier statement.

Without turning, Thanos set his tools down, inhaled, and closed his eyes, prying deeper into Cha’s mind, past his fabricated barrier of false thoughts.

Pale skin, round and pink, shrouded by steam. Large blue eyes framed in golden lashes stare back at him. Katiya stood naked before him, the water reaching her waist.

Was this Cha’s desire?

No, the image was too crisp.

It was a memory.

*SNAP*

Thanos blinked, coming back to the present. The synapse device he had been programming now lay crushed in his palm. In reaction, he turned over his hand, letting the pieces fall to the table, before grasping the side.

“You watched her,” he said, controlling his tone. A burning filled his stomach. He leaned forward, trying to discern the strange sensation’s origin. 

“No, never!” Cha cried. Thanos growled, his grip tightened on the table, the metal screaming under his strength, denting the frame. 

“It was an accident!" Cha cried. "I was only meaning to help her! She had been quiet for a time. I just wanted to be sure she wasn’t hurt.” The excuse was quick and frantic. But was it a lie?

Thanos bowed his head. The scene continued in Cha’s memory. Katiya covered her breasts, and the memory turned its focus to the door when Cha averted his eyes. The blur of dishonest alteration was absent from the vision.

“Go,” he muttered, waiting for Cha to scurry away. Once the door closed, he picked up a copy of the scrapped device in silent pensivity…

…

“Have you ever kissed before?” Gwinth asked. Thanos, a young man of nineteen, looked upon the millions of titans jostling below the ledge they perched on. For once no one stared at him, no one gave him a wide berth. There was only her.

A small hand graced the back of his and she repeated herself.

“Have you ever kissed anyone before?” she asked, large purple eyes search his. His heart trembled with the brush of her palm against his cheek.

‘How soft,’ he thought. She turned his face towards her. He glanced away, unable to face such tender expressions, unaccustomed to having affection directed towards him.

For the second time in his life, Thanos was at a loss.

“Have you ever loved a girl?” Gwinth giggled. He shook his head, speechless, malleable to her will.

“Never,” he admitted. She pulled away. “B-but I’d like to. Someday.” He shrugged, unable to hope that the woman sitting at his side desired that from him. He knew what he was, how he appeared to others.

Purple, the color of death. Born with that hated pigment, Thanos had grown accustomed to reproach and antipathy. Green, blue, pink, orange… Those were natural titan colors. But not purple. No one was ever born purple until now.

From a young age Thanos understood that, because of titan culture, he would always be their unpleasant reminder of inevitable death.

He stroked his chin, a common nervous gesture, feeling the deep grooves under his fingertips. That deformity, his horribly misshapen jaw, added grief and puzzlement as to the origins of his condition.

Even with his brilliant mind, Thanos could not rationalize his unique characteristics, no matter how many times he compared his DNA nucleotides to his father’s.

“Why don’t I help you with that?” she asked, her voice husky against his ear, interrupting his thoughts. His skin may have made it difficult to detect, but  
Thanos’s face burned. The blood rushed to the tissue under his thick skin, flushing at her question.

“We don’t have to,” Thanos said.

“But I want to,” she remarked.

Thanos regarded her with profound bewilderment. His gaze fell to the plump roundness of her lips. He longed to feel them against him, but he couldn’t move, paralyzed by an unknown fear. On her knees, Gwinth held his face in both hands, pulling him towards her before leaning in…  
A new rush of heat manifested in his stomach the moment their lips touched. He didn’t move, thinking of nothing else but the warm press of her mouth against his.

When she pulled away, he recoiled from her, afraid to read her repulsion. But she only beamed.

“How was that?” she asked, breathy, a glow to her skin. “Thanos?”

He stared at the lines in his palm, flexing his large hands, the thick fingers clenched into fists and uncoiled again.

“I felt sick for a moment,” he laughed, but then realized his mistake and quickly moved to amend it. “I mean, like a falling sensation.” She drew closer, placing her hand in his just as it closed, his fingers entirely encompassing hers. He prickled at her touch.

“Thank you,” he whispered, holding her hand carefully as if it were glass, then laughed a little through his nose.

“What’s so funny?” she asked with a smile.

“It’s just… I find myself in disbelief. I fear that all this is a dream,” he admitted, shaking his head and holding her hand a little tighter but not enough to hurt.

“I suspect the others dared you to kiss me,” he glowered, an expression he knew would do no favors towards his appearance. “I bet they can’t wait to hear news of your kiss with the abhorrent Thanos.”

“That’s not true,” she shook her head, earrings glistening in the dying sunlight. “No one hates you for what happened when we were children. No one hates you for being born. And no one hates you now.” He bowed his head.

“Do you want to go home, Thanos?” she asked.

He didn’t answer, pulling her face forward and captured her lips once again. If it was a trap, then so be it. For once he let himself take part in what he wanted, no matter the danger. She pressed into him, arms around his neck, fingers running up his scalp, sending shivers along his spine.

She didn’t need to do this. If this was a trick, why put this much effort into it?

Should he believe her?

They kissed a few minutes more as the sun fell behind the crown of the Nova Zhar mountains in the distance. Gwinth smiled widely as they parted and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I should go home,” she whispered, her hand squeezing his.

“Me too,” he muttered, nearly allowing his disappointment to seep into the phrase. If it were possible, he would stay there for the rest of his life and be content. But reality forced them off that ledge.

Thanos helped her down, wrapping his hands around her waist and gently placed her on the walkway at his side. Once again passersby made way for him, a trivial matter to Thanos now as he smiled at the only girl who made him feel something other than shame.

She returned his tender grin, an expression that made him long to kiss her again.

“Have a goodnight, Thanos,” she waved. He raised a hand as the tide of thousands consumed her. The throng of shuffling and pushing appeared endless, a sea as far as eyes had the ability to comprehend.

…

[Katiya]

In the dining hall, Kat relayed the bathing room mishap to Kebi once Cha left. Uproarious laughter had Kebi bent over to the point of needing a napkin to dab her eyes. The other servants frowned and hurried away nervously at the outburst.

She eventually calmed down to let Katiya eat in peace. But upon Cha’s return, Kebi’s smirk returned.

“Cha finally got to see a naked woman,” she grinned. “After a lifetime of celibacy. How was it?”

Cha narrowed his eyes, then turned up his nose-less face, the dark orange dusting his complexion again.

“I don’t see any importance in discussing this,” he huffed. Both of the girls laughed.

When another servant called Kebi out of the room, Kat got his attention.

“What did Thanos need?” she asked.

“Hm? Oh, nothing important. Just minor operational things,” Cha assured.

Finishing her meal, Kat thanked the servants for clearing the table and gave one last goodbye to Kebi over her shoulder, who waved with a wide grin as Cha led her to the door. Kat couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Cha knowing Kebi gained a new weapon she wouldn’t soon forget.

“How do you feel with that collar around your neck?” Cha asked once in the corridor, rousing Kat from her thoughts. She touched the warm metal resting on her neck, having forgotten the pressure of the collar’s solid hold.

“Tired,” she admitted. “Like it’s draining my energy.”

“It should. It's stabilizing your power, removing it to ease the pain at least. Thanos’s design,” he said. Her heart skipped.

“For me?” she asked. Cha shook his head.

“He’s had the device for interrogations with people who have powerful abilities. Why be in danger when it’s unnecessary? This way,” he said, ushering  
her to follow him down the hall.

“I have another question,” she continued. “How can Thanos speak to me without this translator and you couldn’t?”

Cha smiled. “Thanos can get into your mind and translate the meaning to you directly. It can appear he’s mouthing your language. It is undetectable if you don’t know what to look for,” he replied matter-of-factly. Kat hesitated, frightened in learning her enemy could enter her head without notice.

“Don’t worry. Thanos doesn’t abuse his powers,” Cha said but failed to ease her trepidation.

The tour began at the bridge, then moved to the study, medical bay, training rooms, and the meditation room used only by Cha. Then descending one stairwell, they came upon a door outlined in blue neon lights to their left.

“What’s that?” she pointed.

“His training room,” Cha said. “We won’t go there yet.” Before he moved on, Kat reached out and thumbed the entrance pad; the door fell away, and Kat went in before Cha could stop her.

Inquisitive Kat wandered past the enormous machines; their gigantic weights suited the titan's massive size. Cha trailed slowly behind, rubbing his knuckles while scanning the room for danger.

Kat laid on one bench, straining to reach the handles of the machine. Her feet pressed on the peddles at the bottom, but even her legs were too weak to budge it.

Next, she tried the handheld weights. Cha smiled a little in amusement at her attempt to pick up the smallest.

“How heavy are these?” she grunted, red-faced from the strain.

“Well, it’s made of tricronium, a space metal. But I am sure our measurement of mass needs properly translated to yours.” After making no progress,  
no matter her stance or grip, Kat resigned herself to move on to examine the massive cylinder of weights on the bench press, brushing her palm against it.

“So, he isn’t only smart and telepathic, but he’s physically strong,” she said.

“Yes,” Cha said. “Extremely strong. Thanos used to be against brute force, valuing knowledge over strength. He only took advantage of his enormous form a few years ago.”

Hearing this, Katiya stared out a window, watching one engine fire its blue light into space as it pushed them forward. Her mind sank back to the day she first saw Thanos, his gold-plated armor covered in blood, finding herself unable to picture Thanos as a studious person.

Biting her lip, she turned to Cha. “I wish to leave,” she said.

“Very well,” he replied. "We shall go." He guided her out, resuming his upbeat demeanor.

They retraced their steps while Cha explained that the rest of the lower decks were for storage and housing the crew. Back up one elevator, to the upper decks, he led her to a large archway above black plated double doors rimmed with gold.

“Thanos’s quarters,” Cha gestured. Kat started towards it, but Cha pulled her back. “No. We aren’t to go in there. If he found you, there’s no telling how he’d respond.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” she said, facing the door again. Cha forced her to look at him. His thin, four-fingered hand cupped her cheek.

“A lack of fear is often unwise,” he replied, moving her away, a hand at the small of her back. “Come. We have nothing more to see here.”

…

Their last stop was the captain’s loft, where Thanos led his forces. 

The loft was a circular room perched high over the control deck, an excellent view of overall operations. Hundreds, if not a thousand draconians bustled around computers below them.

With a playful glance over her shoulder, Katiya ran to the massive chair and jumped onto it. The force of her leap made it swivel around to the window that expanded the entire length of the room, presenting the colossal expanse of stars. Millions of pinpoints, billions of miles away glittered before her as hundreds of the fleet's warships drifted alongside them.

Thanos saw this every day? She leaned back against the cushions as Cha stepped up behind her.

“Why does he possess such an army?” she asked.

“His plans call for one,” Cha said, clasping his hands behind him, observing the passing constellations.

“Plans?” she asked.

“When I met Thanos, right after his exile from his homeworld of Titan, Fate brought his broken ship to us. The chance of our paths crossing was extraordinary. Out of the trillions of miles of the universal expanse, we had found him starving and incapacitated.” He strode past, relaying the story with his back to her.

“Once my old masters brought him out of his coma, Thanos and I toiled together under the control of space pirates before winning our freedom with nothing but scrap parts,” Cha said, turning to her again.

“And now that you’re free, what is his purpose?” she asked.

“To save those who rejected him and his ideas,” Cha said. “Titan is nearing collapse. The planet’s natural resources strained, shifting climates into instability. And he fears the worst for them.”

“Then why attack my colony? Why is he out here killing others when Titan needs him?” she asked.

“Because the problem is not one Titan faces alone,” Cha replied. “The mön’nbaran overpopulated and drained planets before skipping onto the next. They were working on overpopulating that planet where we found you.”

“Olveridge,” she said.

“Yes, Thanos saw them as a plague and squelched all settlements besides the smallest and newest one,” Cha said. “He had planned to spare an infinitesimal fraction of them, but as you know, his men failed. And now you’re the only survivor he has, though you are not mön’nbaran,” Cha said.

“So, he’s trying to save people by killing them?” she asked.

“He is.”

Armed with these revelations, Katiya stood.

Were Thanos’s fears justified? Learning Thanos thought of Dy-Ya and the others as a plague pierced her heart with rage like a hot knife.

How dare he.

“Is something the matter?” Cha asked.

“Let's move on,” she forced the most plastic smile on her lips.

“Alright, I do have something more to show you,” Cha replied. But before they could leave, a guard entered and bowed to them both.

Then, addressing Cha, he said: “Master Cha, we are approaching Yvanni. Lord Thanos commands that you take the lady back to her quarters.”

“As he wishes,” Cha said, giving her a ‘sorry’ expression. And the guard continued:

“He also requests to see you, alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> Disclaimer: All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.


	10. Hands of Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katiya gets another chance to face off with Thanos and Death makes her second appearance, giving Thanos a very difficult choice...

[Katiya]

"Why?" Katiya asked with a fierce glare, the inquiry a sharp serrated blade. The guard and Cha both turned to her.

"What is he planning to do?" she demanded.

The question hung in the air, a question she knew the answer to.

"Katiya, please," Cha said, but his constricted tone only fortified her courage.

"Please?" she scoffed. She knew just what they intended.

"We won't keep you there long, just for the time being," Cha said. The tremble in his voice forced Katiya to reign in her mounting rage. But she wanted nothing more than to lash out at Thanos.

With a drawn-out exhale through her nose, Kat closed her eyes, feigning calmness.

"Fine," she said. "Take me back." Cha's shoulder's lowered.

"Alright, but we must hurry. Thanos is on his way," Cha said.

The dim lights in the stairwell failed to illuminate the entire way down, leaving the stairs to spiral into darkness, ending just beyond the red light of the door's access pad.

Kat gripped the railing during their descent, reflecting on what she learned a moment ago. All this killing was for the survival of all races. But in the great wealth of his mind, could Thanos not think of a better solution? There had to be an alternative.

She watched the stairwell entrance down below, questioning if the captain would pass by.

So entrenched in her thoughts, Kat didn't notice Cha stop and ran right into him. Losing her balance and fell back, creating a sickening drop in her stomach. Cha spun around, catching her by the wrist and waist.

"Are you alright?" he asked, placing her back on her feet.

"I'm fine," she said, a hand pressed to her racing heart. Cha wrinkled his brow but said nothing, letting her continue on ahead of him.

Now halfway down, Kat's bare feet began to ache from the weaved metal that formed each step.

"Isn't there an elevator?" she groaned.

"There is, but I thought we could leave it accessible for him," Cha answered. Her eyes darted back up to the loft's entrance. Over their heads, the green light of  
the access pad confirmed the loft remained unoccupied.

"I bet he just wanted me back in my room," she said and flinched, leaning on the railing as she watched her feet for any sign of blood.

Together, Cha and Kat made the last loop around to reach the door. The solid floor relevaed her feet from the digging metal. But right before they could touch the access pad, the door opened.

Cha halted with a gasp while Kat, still staring at her feet, ran into something solid.

The powerful form she pressed against sent a jolt through her body. Kat jumped back, scanning up from the powerful chest before her, only to lock eyes with their captain.

"Th-Thanos," Cha stuttered. "I was just returning Katiya to her room."

"I see that," he said, eyeing her. She frowned, glaring at the wall, pursing her lips to hold in a flood of vile words she wanted to pummel him with. But she knew  
Cha wouldn't be able to take it and kept them to herself.

"I understand that Cha gave you a tour of Sanctuary," he said, interrupting her thoughts. Her face turned to him; chin raised.

"Yes," she replied.

"And? What is your appraisal?" he asked. She blinked.

Why did he care?

Cha shifted beside her.

"It's impressive," she said. The corner of Thanos's mouth twitched upwards, making her wish to take it back.

"Alright, we should be on our way," Cha said, taking her hand. "Come Katiya," Thanos observed the contact, but she kept his attention.

"I'm sure you're impatient to get back," he smirked. She snapped back around to him, squaring up to Thanos with a laugh.

"And I bet you can't wait to see me rot away in there," she said. "It's the only way you could ever keep a woman." Cha squeezed her hand hard, but she didn't  
flinch or remove her gaze from the towering male.

In response Thanos only chuckled and moved aside, allowing Cha to lead her out and the door closed behind them.

...

[Thanos]

Thanos smiled. The fingertips of his right hand massaged his forehead as he chuckled under his breath and began his climb up the stairs. Here he predicted Cha would use his elevator, but it appeared they both had the same forethought.

Thinking back to when Kat ran into him, her countenance shifted from shock to fear than a halting reproach; he relished every expression.

On Titan, they respected women like her, strong and independent, and his people rightfully labeled them "solar fire". It suited her. Even in the darkest circumstances, the girl burned with passion, undaunted by consequences. And it was laughable seeing Cha try to disengage her fierce retort.

"Insolent girl," a whisper entered his mind, icy claws raked over his brain with the voice's appearance. Thanos gave no visible reaction, having trained himself not to flinch from such impressions.

"It is good of you to join me, Lady," he muttered, continuing to climb.

A small spot of mist floating beside him expanded and darkened, reaching the floor before solidifying into the form of a woman in a revealing black dress. From her waist to her fingers, the Lady was small in every way, unlike Katiya. And though She was much tinier than Her companion, She didn't slow down his pace.

"I dislike how she defied you. And you show such feebleness during your exchanges," Death hissed, raising Her skull painted face to him.

The thought of Her watching him gave Thanos immense pleasure. Normally, Death took little interest in the matters of the mortal realm, but for him, She hung around like a shadow and only appeared when he was alone.

At the top of the steps, they stopped outside the loft.

"Please come in, Lady. I wish to be with you a moment longer," Thanos said, pining to hold Her in his arms. Gently She rested Her hand in his upturned palm while he typed in the loft's passcode. The door opened, and he entered first.

"You could kill her," the Lady spoke.

Thanos froze, glancing back, his brows coming together. The skirts of Death's dress rippled like silent black flames, fading off like smoke as She regarded him.

The titan recovered, taking hold of his chair, noticing it faced the opposite direction than how he had left it. Turning it back. He suppressed a grin, certain he knew who meddled with it.

"I will deal with her in time," Thanos assured, adjusting the seat and sat down.

"Deal with it now," Lady Death replied, milky eyes on him, waiting for a reaction that would displease Her. "Unless you wish to keep the little mouse?" The suggestion sickly sweet as it passed those black-painted lips.

"Enough," Thanos muttered.

"Yes, I see it in your mind. You desire to possess her," She said.

"Enough," Thanos said more forcefully.

"You yearn to fall on your knees before her and worship the ground she treads," Death smirked.

"I said ENOUGH!" Thanos thundered, the walls vibrating with the force of his temper. As if struck, Thanos rose, running a hand over his head with a growl then leaned on the glass to peer down at the draconians toiling below.

Death, the object of his affection for years, doubted his devotion. The mere thought wounded him. How could She not recognize how faithful he had been? Were  
Her callous words only meant to torment him?

"Have you become helpless to the terran?" She jabbed. Thanos scowled.

"How I handle this is my business," he growled. The temperature plummeted upon Her approach; icy fingers rested on his forearm. He stiffened.

"Did you forget me so soon?" Her voice broke, white marbles gazing up from deep cavernous sockets. "Am I to fade away and wait for my next love to come along? One who won't abandon me?"

Her bottom lip protruded out, quivering like a frightened child. Thanos brushed his knuckles over one high cheekbone.

"No," he murmured. "I could never abandon you."

Within an instant, the frown faded to a grin. 

Death curled spindly fingers around his muscular hand. Gently, Thanos drew Death over to his chair, allowing Her to climb into his lap.

…

[Katiya]

Curved paneled glass made up the very front of the ship. Beyond the transparent barrier, she could see the expanse of Yvanni’s round arc, its circumference illuminated by two nearby stars.

“Lord Thanos has entered the captain’s loft,” said one computer operator a few feet away. Curious, Kat halted, straining to peer up at the loft overhead, but all she could see was the ceiling beyond the glass.

“Project the landing point,” Thanos’s deep voice boomed through the intercom.

“Can he see us?” she murmured.

“I don’t believe so. Look,” Cha pointed to the holographic object manifesting before the ship’s large front window. Variations of glimmering iridescent pixels formed together above their heads into a copy of the planet outside.

Katiya gazed at the realistic map in wonder. A blinking yellow box appeared on the surface before the map zoomed in, transforming the projection to a flat layout of the planet’s topography. Another indicator appeared amongst a mountain range and the map zoomed in again. Finally, it locked onto a flat terrain outside a cluster of buildings before turning blue.

“Take us down,” Thanos commanded.

The tremors grew stronger as the engines roared in their push against rough air. From the nose of the ship, sparks slithered like rivulets of rain across the windows.

Kat’s blood ran cold, pressing a hand over her mouth while she leaned into Cha. The turbulence was enough to make her sick. The last time she broke through a planet’s atmosphere, she was engulfed in flames. She could almost feel searing heat against her skin from the memory alone.

Fearful, Kat squeezed her eyes shut and took Cha’s hand. Without a word, her companion guided her through the darkness until she felt the cold touch of the railing in her palm and gripped onto it for dear life.

Unable to take much more, Kat braced herself, and then-

Nothing.

Silence greeted them on the other side of the planet's invisible barrier.

She cracked one eye open to overcast clouds beyond the window as the tension eased among the operators and the ship continued its descent. Kat breathed as they leveled out, high over the sprawling frozen world.

“There we are,” Cha soothed, releasing the railing with her.

“We aren’t landing?” she asked.

“No,” Cha answered. “Thanos usually makes his proposal to the leader before letting the others land. And, depending on the answer, we decide what to do from there.”

“I bet that always goes over well,” she rolled her eyes. Cha laughed dryly and rubbed his hands before ushering her to the hall.

…

Her chamber wasn’t too far from the control room and the directions were easy enough to remember. She even began recognizing symbols and tried her best to memorize the patterns should the chance to escape arise again.

When they got to her room, Cha stopped outside as Katiya stepped over the bio scanner. The scanner’s light augmented Cha’s frown with dark shadows. As they stood there the scanner hum filled the silence, a constant reminder of Thanos’s presence.

“Do you need me for something, Cha?” she asked after a moment, tilting her head. Cha avoided her eyes and cleared his throat.

“I know you hate him, and I know you have every reason to, but please understand. He needs you,” Cha said, coming as close as he dared without passing over the scanner.

Kat couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of the titan, the sole reason behind her current misery, needing anything from her.

“You might not see it, even he doesn’t,” Cha said. Kat folded her arms.

Cha licked his lips and pressed them together in a grim line and went on with a lowered voice: “Please don’t do anything rash. These guards will not hesitate to kill you. They are beasts, loyal to Thanos but still monsters none the less, bred to kill,” he warned.

“I know what they are,” she answered. Cha dropped his shoulders, tucking his chin into his chest with a furrowed brow.

“I’m sorry to have made you suffer at all,” he said. Kat narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. Was Cha blaming himself for her situation?

She wanted to snap at him, tell him that ‘sorry’ wouldn’t bring Dy-Ya back, nor would it erase her memories of the colonists.

“You must promise me,” Cha continued, interrupting any rebuttal she could have made. “Please, Katiya.” He reached out for her hands but stopped, his eyes falling to the bio scanner, and pulled them back.

“I would hate for anything to happen to you,” he muttered.

“Goodnight, Cha,” she replied. Cha frowned but nodded.

“Good night, Lady Katiya,” he said, backing away. She pressed her palm to the door’s control, closing it in his face.

…

[Thanos]

Thanos stared at the numbers shifting above the elevator door on his way to the lower decks. Meanwhile, his mind buzzed with Death’s ultimatum: Kill the girl or abandon her.

He leaned against the side, recalling a moment nearly two weeks ago in the dining hall. Katiya matched his glare while pressing his hand to her neck, daring him to make the next fatal move.

Would she truly prefer to die by his hand?

A chime brought him out of deliberation, a warning that the door was opening.

Outside hundreds of chitauri bustled about preparing their weapons and armor. Half lizard and half insect with biotic enhancements, the chitauri was a unique and uncivilized race Thanos bred to enhance their strongest genetics while most lacked the ability to speak. Their predatory eyes watched him cross the room. 

Once at his personal locker, Thanos slipped his thermal suit over his clothes; the material stretched to suit his muscular form, then fastened light armor over top.  
Last, he twisted in a small regulator into the center of his chest above his breastbone. The mechanism whirred, heating then cooling his suit as it adjusted.

Though it was lighter than his regular golden armor, Thanos knew the thermal suit would fare better in an inhospitable environment. He packed what supplies from the reserves, at least all that he could, and headed out for the docking area.

While Thanos approached his ship, he checked each weapon, ensuring each was fully loaded with ion rounds before holstering them. Next to the open port door, the ground could be seen around the drifting low-hanging clouds. He peered down at the frozen landscape below while the snow and biting wind battered his face.

“Thanos?” a voice called.

He stepped back, turning to find Cha rubbing his arms in the freezing air. “You asked for me?” he shouted over the howling wind blasting his frail body protected only by his thin robe.

“Yes,” Thanos said, beckoning him forward. “Come here.” Cha hesitated.

“If it’s about Katiya’s outbursts, I’m sure she is sorry for upsetting you. I wish I could have deterred her from making such remarks,” Cha said. Thanos raised a hand for silence.

“That is not why I summoned you,” he said. “I have a few orders for you while I’m gone.” Cha stepped closer.

“Oh,” Cha breathed, a weary smile growing on his face.

“The first is to keep Gamora on the ship if I should summon my forces. I can’t have her out on this mission when she has yet to recover from her last injury,” Thanos said.

“As you wish,” Cha nodded. “Anything else?”

“Keep watch over the medical bay,” he added.

“As always,” Cha said. “Anything… else?”

Thanos grabbed onto the handle of the carrier, ready to board with his back to Cha. After a brief hesitation, he spoke over his shoulder.

“Did she obey my orders?” he asked, knowing he didn’t need to clarify which girl he was speaking of. Cha smiled, looking to the side with a warm smile.

“She is resting, sir,” he replied.

“Good,” Thanos said and climbed into the ship.

“I want two guards posted outside her room. We don’t need her sneaking out again,” he shouted over the roar of the engine. And with that, the transporter ship closed its entrance, the air from its rotors blasted the others in the room with a powerful gust before it sank down towards the planet’s surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.


	11. Landing on Yvanni

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanos lands on a strange new planet and Katiya has a foreboding dream... And will Katiya agree to help Thanos?

[Thanos]  
The transporter ship hovered a moment before landing. The wind stung Thanos's face when the pneumatic doors opened as he stood up and thanked the driver, placing a hand on the draconian boy's shoulder before securing his helmet and stepping out onto the windswept bluff.

Through the snowfall, he could see they were one klick away from the ravine where the village lay nestled amongst craggy rocks.

As he stood there, the sun came out of its refuge behind lilac clouds. It bathed the glittering sea of ice with light, turning the ground to gold. It was a sign hailing his arrival. With a smile, Thanos nodded towards the distant sunrise in self-assurance.

This was just.

This was...

Destiny.

He waved to the draconian, sending the transporter back to Sanctuary, allowing him to continue on his own.

Whitewashed, the land held no color besides the odd outcropping of the high cliffs, their jagged rocks possessed no sign of vegetation. A permanent winter.

The biting climate did little to deter Thanos in his progress. Concealed on three sides by mountains, one could only see the town from the south. But even this path led to a great wall with a giant door at its center.

Upon closer examination, as he approached, Thanos made out the spikes rising out from the wall's lip far over his head. He pounded on the metal door with the side of his fist, sending a shuddering rumble loud enough to alert the sentry on the lookout tower.

A lazy yawn was the first thing Thanos heard or saw of the man now peering over the railing. His drooping, wrinkled face and pointed nose bowed in the titan's direction.

"Eh, what do you want?" he grunted, possibly grouchy for being interrupted during a nap.

"I seek entry into your settlement," Thanos called.

"No outsiders," the man replied gruffly and laid down again.

"What if I offer your people supplies? Perhaps we can make a deal," Thanos said.

"Well clap my hide, wouldn't that be nice?" the man said but didn't rise again.

"I see," Thanos replied. Stepping back, he reached over his shoulder and pulled out an ion blaster, pumping the fore-end, and braced the butt of the gun against his shoulder. Then, unlatching the safety, the weapon charged its blast, humming loudly over the hiss of the wind.  
The noise made the sentry look back.

"What are you doing?" the man asked. Thanos ignored his inquiry, continuing to build up the blast.

"Hold it!" the man cried. Panicked, the sentry tumbled out of his tower right into a pile of snow with an "oof". Bouncing to his feet, he fumbled for the door's control from his satchel, pressing the release button to open it, and ran out, waving his arms frantically.

He was a small sprite, with white tufts of hair covering his head, feet, hands, and shoulders while his torso, legs, and arms remained naked grey flesh.

Thanos ionized the energy still nested within the barrel. The light of the ion ray waned before he replaced the weapon to its holster.

"Jirra!" the man cursed. "Are you crazy?"

"Thank you," Thanos said, ignoring the man's exasperated expression and walked past him into the enclosure. Speechless, the sentry looked from  
the door to the hulking giant before closing it and hurried after him.

"You are intruding!" he cried.

"You let me in," Thanos replied.

"Bah! My orders are to prevent anyone from coming in, but I also can't have you blasting through our fortifications," he said. Thanos kept his stride, forcing the sentry to jog.

To Thanos, the settlement appeared to be a ghost town, each house in various stages of disrepair. Nothing stirred, not even a beast wandered the streets. The only notable building was a towering spire in the distance, guiding Thanos to the neglected structure living in its shadow.

This desolation made Thanos wonder if he had been mistaken in landing in this location, even if it was the largest settlement his scanners detected.  
With little option, he kept heading towards the tower, knowing learning a little more might bring him closer to finding the capital city, wherever it was.

The closer they got, the more he could see the building resembled the surrounding ruins. "Sanctuary" read the Authorian plaque on the outside of the building. Thanos gathered it was a religious structure of sorts, not a castle. Without stopping, he walked in, followed by his nervously muttering companion.

Inside, the cathedral was empty, its furniture destroyed. Sunlight poured from the many slits in the splintered ceiling, cascading over a statue of a giant horned creature gazing upwards with arms crossed over its furry chest.

Before the statue lay a tomb embedded into the floor in the shape of a casket. Authorian words engraved on it read: "Specter Mar'ria, we knew her well".

Below the words was a painting of a woman covered in brown fur with a massive under-bite. Long tusks pointed up to her temples as six horns crowned her head, a species entirely different from his companion.

In great contrast to the artwork, splotches of ugly black tar marred the tomb, ruining the serenity of the woman's calm and pensive demeanor. Pitch covered most of the portrait with the word "whore" splattered beside it.

"This is not your planet," Thanos observed.

"No, heh, we came here at the turn of the century and took over the native towns. From what I hear, my ancestors ransacked the place and found tricrillium everywhere! Do you know how valuable that is? We made shields and weapons, created a whole booming industry until... well until it dried up," he said. "Now we scavenge for survival."

The wind howled through the battered roof over their heads, spilling more snow through the holes in the ceiling. The glittering ice crystals danced on the wind as Thanos pondered this, then turned to leave.

"What's the rush?" the sentry asked and went with him. Thanos regarded him.

"I have a mission to accomplish. Trillions depend upon it," he answered.

"So, a big purple man is out saving the universe all on his own," the man said.

"I'm not alone. I have others fighting at my side," Thanos said. "I am here so they don't have to be."

"To protect them," the man nodded. "Women, perhaps? Or a woman." The man laughed a little at that. Thanos arched a brow.

"Don't worry, mate. I understand. We don't want the lady folk taking on all our problems," he said. Thanos let out a forceful sigh. The man continued to speak.

"Hey, I can help you if that's all you need. The name's Voltear," he said and bowed, a slight movement for his stunted stature. "So, what're you here for?" Voltear asked, trailing behind.

"I must speak with your leader," Thanos said.

"Our leader? Oh, you mean the one who calls himself King," he said.

"You have a king?" Thanos regarded the imp.

"Yes, well, he calls himself that as if it is his name and title. But not everyone pays attention to him. We don't organize ourselves like that. Our loyalty is only with our settlements," he shrugged. "And King is in another one."

"Then you know where he is," Thanos said, turning to him.

"Eh, what? No, I can't tell you where he is," he said. Thanos placed a hand on the gun at his hip in a warning. The man flinched, raising his hands. "I mean, I don't know where he is. But there are traders I let in now and then. They travel around and I'm sure one of them can tell you."

"And why should I believe that someone will come by with the answers I seek? How can you convince me this isn't a ploy to buy time?" he asked.

"Well, you can bet on the fact that I don't much enjoy the prospect of dying," the man answered. "And we are only loyal to the settlements where we rest our heads at night, so I have no reason to be loyal to him. Hey, I got no problem with you wanting to off some thick head in some other settlement."

"When do these traders arrive?" Thanos asked. Voltear shrugged.

"They come when they want, but they come often enough. You won't have to wait long," he answered. Thanos stepped out into the churchyard, crunching through the snow that reached up to Voltear's knees.

"I presume I'm better off looking for another settlement and meet traders on the way there," he said. Voltear hopped in Thanos's large footprints to avoid fighting through the snowdrift while he trailed him.

"Um, so is this lady friend of yours pretty or... like you?" he asked.

Thanos grimaced, surprised from the redirection of the conversation. It forced his mind back to Katiya laying on the gurney as he monitored the nullifier's progress. Several times he reached down, touching the thick curls cascading around her delicate form.

He knew if Kat had been awake, he would not get such a chance.

Did she despise him?

He could remember when they first met, how her eyes fell to his deformed jaw instantly. And for that, he had wanted to kill her.

To have a beautiful woman resembling titans judge him...

But she didn't look away.

As he thought, a dark cloud drew over the image of her visage. Death's youthful face flashed behind his eyes.

Thanos flinched, bowing his head, fists clenching at his side.

Death was just; She believed in his cause. He was here for Her and the people, and he couldn't allow his heart to run away from his purpose.

It was Death who did not turn away from him. It was Lady Death, who enjoyed the boastful headcount of his victims.

That was all She asked of him.

And She always wanted more.

"There is no woman," he answered. Voltear eyed him but said nothing more. It was silent for a time until they were almost halfway back to the gate.

"What's that you got there?" Voltear asked, gesturing to the pack Thanos secured to the back of his hips. Thanos turned his head towards the small man.

"Those are my supplies. If you are planning on taking them, I will have to kill you," Thanos responded, keeping pace towards the gate.

"No, no. I was just saying if the price is right, you can trade them in another town for information," he said. "Wouldn't hurt to let them look at your wares."

"Thank you," Thanos said.

"For what?" Voltear tilted his head to squint up at him.

"You have been generous with your information. I will not forget it," Thanos replied.

They were almost at the gate when a bullet ricocheted off Thanos's chest piece; its ring filling the silence of the town before the shot plunged into the snow. Thanos glanced at his chest, having heard the crunch of metal and polyethylene.

He touched the regulator against his breastbone only to have pieces of the device fall off into his palm.

A high impact shot was enough to do this damage to his reinforced light armor. The suit was still a prototype, and the device had been quite unprotected, though its small size made it easy to miss.

Thanos's gaze landed on a figure in the shadows while the gunfire still echoed in the air. The man slunk into the light; gun still trained on him. White fur covered everything but his attacker's face, fingers, and toes. He was average-sized, much taller than Voltear, with coiled black horns framing both sides of his head.

"Excellent work, Voltear, you finally made yourself useful by luring the largest bounty in the civilized galaxy into our little settlement," the gunman smirked.

"Who are you?" Thanos asked, stone-faced. The man spat into the snow.

"Don't you worry about that, friend. And boy are you ugly," he laughed, eyeing Thanos from head to toe. Used to hearing similar appraisals, Thanos didn't react to the boorish assertion.

"Thanos, 'the mad titan', as his folks call him," the gunman presented, holding his hand out as if he was introducing the titan to a great assembly, snubbing Thanos's question, then approached with a smirk, placing himself between the two men and the gate.

Thanos clenched his jaw in irritation. But he presented no further alteration in countenance for this hindrance in the form of a low-life bounty hunter.

There was only one way to settle this brief interruption.

…

[Katiya]

The screams of the dying mon’barans resounded in Katiya’s dreams. Smoke burned her lungs as she ran for the Olveridge hotel, Dy-Ya clutching her hand as they went.

Katiya gagged on the thick air, stopping as Dy-Ya frantically looked over her shoulder and turned to her.

“Come on,” she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Kat waved her off, urging her friend to go on without her. Dy-Ya sighed.

“There is no way I am leaving you behind,” Dy-Ya said and slipped an arm around her. Together they stumbled through the debris towards the hotel entrance. Broken windows and a vehicle burning in the parking area told them the monsters had already passed through.

Hitching onto the hope their attackers would keep their distance, Dy-Ya dragged her inside the lobby and quickly locked the door behind them.

Kat tried her best to help by stumbling over to a bench to rest. Once free of her burden, Dy-Ya nearly collapsed against a pillar, winded as she smiled at Kat, both grateful they made it. 

Frantic banging from the entrance door broke through their reprieve. Both women glanced over to the commotion.

“Let me in! Let me in!” a woman’s screams pierced the evening air like screeching steel. The fanatical plea sent a shiver through Kat’s spine. The woman locked eyes with her and repeated even louder. “Let me iiiiiiiiiinn!”

Flashes of memory floated from a dark place within Katiya’s mind. Somehow, she knew something terrible also waited beyond that door alongside that woman, and it wanted in just as desperately.

The woman kept pounding, and Kat, maintaining eye contact with her, shook her head.

“PLEEEEEAASE!” Her shrill screams tore at Katiya’s heart and made her wish to die and vanish away from the horrible woman’s sight. “PLEASE!” The woman clawed at the crevice between the double doors before throwing her body against it.

Kat did her best to avoid looking at the beggar, nails digging into her scalp, knowing that with every scream, the monsters grew closer. HE grew closer.

Meanwhile, Dy-Ya searched below the counter for a weapon, unaware of how the woman’s screams were affecting Kat.

Suddenly the shrieking stopped.

Katiya lifted her head and at the very edge of her vision, she glimpsed a figure standing right behind her. Cold sank into her skin, making her shiver. 

A cloud of steam issued from her mouth.

She gazed up at the shattered glass of a display casement before her. Reflected there was not the same woman outside a moment ago, but a strange lady with a skull painted face. And unlike them, she wore unsoiled black, flowing robes.

Kat turned to confront the apparition, but her attacker tore her from the bench first and slammed her against the window above the booth, shattering the glass around Kat’s head.

The woman’s talon-like hand dug into Katiya’s throat as she kicked, trying to get her off as a wide ghoulish grin spread over the ghastly woman’s face.

Unable to breathe, Kat panicked, pulling at the hand holding her up.

…

Eyes bursting open, Katiya kicked off the blankets in a mad panic, swearing something was trying to kill her. She grabbed an object from the bedside table, slashing at the air above her.

Nothing.

The horrible woman from her dream had vanished.

Her eyes focused to find a knife clenched in her fist as she struggled to catch her breath, placing the knife back on the bedside table, scanning the darkened room. Terrified, she couldn’t help but suspect every shadow.

In a cold sweat, she massaged her neck, still feeling the tight grip of a hand there.

Once she settled a little, Kat reasoned the notion of a woman trying to kill her away. If it had truly happened back on Olveridge, Dy-Ya would have used the woman’s head as batting practice with a led pipe.

She shook her head and quietly stood, clutching her hands before her chest. Sweat dampened her nightgown, the light material sticking to her skin, and made her shiver in the cool air of the room.

Kat went to the sink, splashing water on her face before glancing into the mirror. Thick ringlet curls stuck to her skin as dark circles left shadows below her bloodshot eyes.

She turned off the tap. In the reflection, her eyes fell to the knife on the table behind her. It was the same knife she snagged from Thanos’s lab; and the same one he forced her to drop in the dining hall.

How did it get here?

She thought back, recalling every person who came into her room. All she could think of was Gamora running out when she awoke. Kat smiled, thinking of the little one gifting her with a means of defending herself. She must have seen it before but didn’t take notice.

But she had to focus. Kat shook her head and took a deep breath to clear her mind of all sentimentality. Thanos was on his way to another unsuspecting planet to bring his men down like hellfire. Then he would determine who dies and leave a small fraction to mourn their unimaginable loss.

‘Promise me you won’t do anything rash…’ Cha’s words repeated in her mind.

Katiya knew preventing Thanos from achieving his goal would put her life at risk. And without powers, this left her nearly helpless to do anything if they caught her. But she couldn’t just sit by and let his will be done!

Faced with the impossibility of her situation, Katiya bet on making a break for it when they opened the door again. But before she committed to the plan, a metallic shudder came from the wall above her bed. The air conditioning kicked on, issuing cool air into her room from a vent.

Perfect.

With trembling legs, Kat stepped onto her bed and examined the vent closely. The screws had one notch on their heads. But then, remembering her lack of a tool inventory, she became frustrated all over again. If only she had a coin or something to wedge into the nail heads to unfasten them.

Her eyes widened. Getting an idea, she quickly retrieved the knife and forced it to fit in the notch, haphazardly as it was. The thin metal made it hard, but she wedged the blade into the tiny crevices and maneuvered it enough to loosen the screws.

Careful to catch the grate, she set it on the bed before peering into the darkness leading to god knows where.

It was crazy to think it would work again, having escaped Thanos’s lab only just over a week ago in the same manner. Thanos had read her mind in that instance and probably had precautions already set up for her. But it was a risk she had to take.

To keep her long hair out of the way, Kat swept her blonde curls into another bun on top of her head and tied it with the ribbon.

After casting a cautionary glance over her shoulder at the door, Kat gripped the ledge inside the vent and lifted herself.

When she was almost fully inside, the hiss of the door opening made her freeze. Had the guards heard her? Did they put a silent alarm in the vents?

Well, no use trying to play innocent now.

“Katiya?” Kebi’s voice called. Sheepishly, Katiya slid back out onto the bed to find her friends waiting at the side of her cot.

Cha’s jaw hung slightly open, worry rippling across his broad forehead, while Kebi wore a sharp-toothed grin.

“Already trying to escape us again?” Cha asked a sideways twitch in his frown expressed his disappointment. She had not listened to his caution.

With a weary sigh, he leaned the grate against the wall before perching on the edge of the bed while Kebi stood nearby, folding her arms. This prompted Katiya to sit at the head, looking to both of them.

“I couldn’t just wait here knowing he was killing again,” she explained. Kebi watched her while making no answer as Cha kept his attention fixed on his lap.

“I know, Katiya. You aren’t in trouble. We are here to request your help,” Cha said. Katiya eyed them both cautiously.

“With what?” she asked.

“It’s about Thanos,” Kebi said.

“Where is he?”

“Planet-side,” Cha replied. “He went down into those frigid winds and his temperature regulator has gone offline some time ago.” Kat turned a questioning glance towards Kebi.

“It means it stopped working,” Kebi provided.

“What’s a temperature regulator?” Kat asked. Cha gently slapped his forehead with a small laugh.

“Sorry,” Kat muttered, put off by the gesture. Cha shook his head.

“No, no. I keep forgetting you are new to all this,” he said. “A temperature regulator helps to keep space suits a sustainable temperature inside, so the wearer doesn’t overheat.”

“Or freeze,” Kebi added.

“Yes,” Cha nodded. “Our readings show that the temperatures on the planet’s surface are well below freezing. Thanos may be strong, but he still risks frostbite or worse. But our communications line has been silent. Even though he doesn’t complain, I know he can’t withstand such climates for long.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” Kat shrugged. Kebi and Cha looked at each other before Cha continued.

“I understand you dislike him, but we were hoping you would be up to delivering another regulator,” he said.

Kat didn’t know what to say.

Help Thanos?

Both of her friends were so kind, but the only rift between them was their loyalty to Thanos. Could she honestly help him?

“Why me? Why can’t one of you do it?” she asked, looking between them. Kebi bowed her head.

“Those temperatures are fatal to me in minutes if my regulator malfunctions. Also, I am commanded to remain on the ship. My being out means immediate dismissal,” she explained.

“And I am here to watch the medical bay since I am the only healer on this ship. Some patients urgently need my care,” Cha said.

Both had excuses, but they were valid. Kat bowed her head, not sure what she could do even if she wanted to. Cha shifted closer, tilting his head with a peculiar expression.

“Knowing how that brute can be, Thanos will deny help from anyone,” Cha said. “But I noticed he takes great interest in you, listening to what you have to say. I believe you are perhaps the only person he might heed besides myself.”

It filled her stomach with butterflies hearing that, but she tried to keep her surprise to herself. If there was any respect Thanos held for her, she had been oblivious to it.

“No, he doesn’t,” she laughed, but Kebi and Cha didn’t join in.

“Consider for a moment, Katiya,” Cha said. “He allowed you freedoms few of his prisoners ever receive and he listened to your warnings about Gamora.” Kat looked down at her lap, still clutching the surgical knife. What would Gamora do without her father if he were to die?

“Fine,” she sighed.

“You will?” he asked, brightening up. She nodded.

“Oh, thank you!” Cha smiled. “It means so much to us. And, whether you know it or not, you have become an important part of this crew yourself.” Kebi nodded in agreement.

“Our pet terran,” she joked. The squint in her eyes told Kat she was smiling under her face covering.

Suddenly the intercom crackled into life: “Preparing secondary shuttle for landing point.”

Katiya gaped at the intercom speaker. Had they expected her to say yes?

Before Kat could take her answer back, Kebi helped her off the bed.

“Let’s get you into a suit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.


	12. Followed Into Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanos has a falling out on the surface of Yvanni and Katiya makes her way down to the surface but things don't work out as planned!

“Thanos, ‘the mad titan’, as his folks call him,” the gunman presented, holding his hand out while placing himself between the two men and the gate.

Thanos clenched his jaw with irritation. There was only one way to settle this brief interruption.

“Voltear,” Thanos said, gazing over to the trembling man.

“I swear, Thanos. I-I didn’t tell them you were here,” he said. The adamant denial was traceable inside a stream of thoughts issuing from the man. It was enough to squelch suspicion.

A few other guerilla fighters came out with their weapons drawn, aiming them at Thanos alone. The titan didn’t move, nor did he speak, fully aware these wolves would leap the second he gave them an opening. From every angle, they closed their circle tighter around them.

“Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” said the leader, a sharp-toothed grin stretching across his face.

“What do we do?” Voltear whispered as Thanos examined their opponents for vulnerabilities.

“Stand behind me,” Thanos muttered. Voltear regarded him with confusion, then shook his head.

“That’s Tren, the bandit leader, do you have any idea what he will do to you? What he could do to me if we piss him off? Are you crazy?” he hissed.

“You say that a lot. Move,” Thanos said and pushed the small man behind him, grabbing the gun holstered at his hip and pointed it at one man. Tren laughed, throwing back his head.

“Are you aware of how many weapons we have trained on you? You’d be an idiot to attack us when-,”

Thanos fired his weapon, sending a ball of blue electricity flying into one enemy, zapping him, before it amplified and shot into the next and the next.   
Within seconds Tren was the only one left standing, spared because he was further away.

“What the hell was that!” he cried, pulling out his own weapon.

“If I tried to explain it, it would take too long for you to understand,” Thanos smirked. The man growled, firing a shot only to have it bounce off   
Thanos’s breastplate as another bullet came from a different direction, only to be deflected off Thanos’s helmet right above his temple.

With a quick calculation, Thanos deduced the second shot’s origin and shifted his attention to one window.

“Not so fast, behemoth,” snarled Tren. “You are at MY mercy and I command you to drop all weapons and turn around.”

“I will not,” Thanos replied, still examining the second-story windows for any sign of movement, never lowering his weapon, finger poised at the trigger.

“Don’t be a fool. I have you surrounded,” Tren said.

“Fire away, the alternative is a worse outcome,” Thanos said. “It’s preferable to die on my own terms.”

“No way. You aren’t serious,” the man scoffed, but Thanos didn’t budge.

“Daresha!” Tren spat what Thanos supposed was a curse. Control was slipping from the fool and he couldn’t regain it.

“I would also like to disclose how you know my name?” Thanos said finally. Tren lifted his head.

“Your people broadcasted a message with your image a few months ago. You’re a mutant among the titans with a large reward for your capture and return,” he answered. 

Thanos struggled to take in this news. Titan asking for his return? 

It made little sense.

Why would Titan want him back after they had so unequivocally rejected him? Were they finally seeing reason? Hope budded in his chest at the thought of being welcomed back, but he couldn’t trust these men. 

If he were to return, it wouldn’t be in chains.

Suddenly Voltear tore the gun from Thanos’s holster at his other hip and turned it on him. Unphased, Thanos merely acknowledged the tiny shaking alien while he avoided Thanos’s gaze.

“Don’t listen to them. You’re coming with me,” Voltear demanded, his back to the others. Thanos didn’t budge. Voltear cringed, blinking back tears, shifting from one foot to the other. “Please.” His voice lowered. Thanos made no response.

“Isn’t that cute? The odd alliance is turning on each other,” Tren smirked.

“Shut up! I am doing this for me,” Voltear snarled.

“As if you could,” Tren laughed and unhooked something from his belt before tossing it over. “Listen to me, Voltear, just tie him up.”

Thanos glimpsed the small metal box as it clattered on the cobbled road. A paralyzing device, capable of rendering a man even at his own size helpless. Voltear looked to Thanos pleadingly.

‘You think you can protect me from them. You can’t. Leave now and you won’t die with them.’ Thanos projected these thoughts into Voltear’s mind. 

Bewildered, Voltear stared at him, lowering the gun.

“Didn’t you hear me? Tie him up!” Tren shouted. Voltear’s shoulders sank, shaking his head.

“No! I know what you’ll do to him,” Voltear replied. Thanos looked at his small companion from the corner of his eye. “You’ll turn him into a slave until his planet has a high enough reward for you. That’s how it always is.”

“Fine. If you won’t help me, I guess you don’t mind joining your family then?” Tren sneered, aiming his gun at the gatekeeper instead.

“Come on, Tren, he just needs to get to King’s place is all. We don’t have to do this. We can stick to stealing and the old stuff we used to do. Bounty hunting ain’t no good. We are just as scummy as any criminal we hunt,” he reasoned, his voice shaking.

A shot rang out. Voltear stumbled back into Thanos, pressing a trembling hand over his chest, pulling it away to find dark red blood in his palm. He gasped for breath. Thanos caught his hand, holding Voltear until his grip weakened, clasping on until he slid down to the ground onto his knees.

“Get out of here. His words… he does not speak the truth,” Voltear grunted before his eyes dimmed and his body fell limp, facedown in the road. He did not stir again.

“Now, where were we?” Tren sneered, eyeing Thanos staring at Voltear’s blood dying the snow red at his feet.

“Move it,” Tren said, nudging his gun back to the church. In response, Thanos shot the man in the chest. Tren stumbled back then growled and sent his own retaliation in the form of a plasma blast to Thanos’s abdomen.

Thanos bent over with a grunt but only grinned, biting back the pain. His flashing crimson iris’s narrowed as he fired again, stepping closer as Tren staggered backward. The fear in his opponent’s eyes did not match his own and fed Thanos’s resolve to see him dead.

They traded another shot. Tren missed his mark while Thanos nailed his right between Tren’s eyes. Instantly Tren’s body collapsed dead, leaving Thanos the last one standing, panting as he checked his gun.

“AAAAAHHH!” A war cry ripped through the air before Thanos stepped aside in time to avoid an attack from behind. The man stumbled forward; broad sword clenched in his fists. 

Thanos fired into his back before another at his side sliced into his shoulder. The titan’s thermal suit absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the blade stung as it sliced into his shoulder between the plates of armor. A calculated blow.

He swung back, bashing his attacker’s face with the butt of his gun. The jarred swordsman faltered before Thanos grabbed him by the neck and hurled him onto the other.

Within a second a surge of bloodlust in the minds of his surrounding enemies proved he was still faced with at least a handful more. Thanos activated his armor, projecting blue transparent holo shields. They wrapped around his body a second before a volley of gunfire from the surrounding buildings rattled at his back.

He removed the sword hanging onto his shoulder and struck it through the struggling men on the ground, slicing both in half through armor and bone.

When another reprieve from the onslaught came, Thanos turned his attention to the buildings, scrutinizing each pane of glass before another whistling hail of bullets descended upon him.

He dove behind a parked buggy and loaded his weapon, honing his mental abilities to feel around, finding almost nothing. The buzz of thought within the small settlement seemed nearly absent with a small population of brains. It wasn’t truly a town of villagers, but merely a roost for bandits.

After catching sight of one consciousness in a second-story window, Thanos sent a tremor through the man’s mind, stumbling him. His opponent bowed their head into sight, cradling it in pain within the frame of the window. Thanos closed one eye to focus through the scope, and fired, killing the bandit instantly.

More bullets grazed off his shields, sparking from impact as he took cover again. To get a better angle, he rolled over, pressing into the cart while gunfire punched holes into the other side of the buggy. Splinters of wood tapped at his helmet as Thanos shielded his face with his gun.

He waited until they stopped and immediately returned fire, sending one shot into the mouth of a fool peeking out to see if he had made his mark.

By the time Thanos was sure the last enemy had fallen, he noted his lack of ammo inside his bag. Holstering his gun as he climbed to his feet, once again eyeing Voltear face down in the middle of the road, the wind ruffling his clothes.

“Animals,” Thanos muttered under his breath. He shivered from chill sinking into his suit and raised a hand to press his comms button over his ear. The initial static didn’t bode well. 

Without pause, Thanos took off the transmitter and reached for his tools pack, retrieving a small metal instrument to unlatch the circuit board. Quickly he changed the frequencies and put it back together before trying again.

“Yon,” he called to his communications director, but rough crackling only answered. “Yon. Yon. Can anyone hear me?” he called. If his communications were down, he had instructed his men to investigate after an hour passed with no word. His team prepared for anything and he knew he could survive until then.

Suddenly the comms shifted in sound, sputtering before-

“This is the communications director, Yon Feriodous. Do you read?” Yon’s voice answered, to Thanos’s relief.

“Affirmative. I can hear you, Yon. Our transmitter seems to have been interrupted by a jamming device they set off,” Thanos said.

“Yes, I thought as much, so I set the communications to three megahertz to overcome the interruption,” Yon replied. “We saw you activated your shields.   
Do you need backup?”

“Unnecessary,” he said, gazing at the wreckage from the firefight. A body slid out of one window and fell to the ground with a crunching thud.

“Your regulator is also offline,” Yon added.

“I’m fine,” Thanos insisted. “But I need you to perform infrared scans over the entire planet. Find the location of the greatest mass of heat signatures.”

“Scanning entire planetary ecosystem now,” Yon reported, adding after a pause: “The largest cluster of heat signatures is twenty degrees to the right, a good thirty klicks away.”

“Stay on your guard for other anomalies and I will inform you if I find anything," Thanos said. After a brief farewell, Thanos dropped his hand and went about looting the men for ammo and other supplies before heading to the gate. 

[Katiya]

Sifting through all the alien tech laid out before her on the bench, Katiya felt unqualified for the job her friends selected her to do. Convinced to say as much, she tried to vocalize her concern when Kebi suddenly gasped, grabbing a tiny cylinder from the pile and held it up for her to see.

“Here it is,” she beamed.

“What’s that?” Kat asked.

“A regulator,” Kebi replied like it was obvious.

“It looks like a weird bullet,” Katiya said. It reminded her of a thin lipstick container but made of metal with shiny metallic prongs at the bottom and a round top.

Kebi ran a finger over it before sliding the device into the hole at the center of Kat’s chest on her suit. The instant it was in, the suit hummed, warming up before decompressing with a huff of air.

“I could really freeze to death without this?” Kat asked, staring at it, now appearing to be only a small metal button in between her breasts.

“Yeah, without the proper protection,” Kebi said, turning to examine more of the tools while cautiously watching the Chitauri around them. Katiya reached into the box of the regulators for a second one.

“Just in case,” she said, placing both into the satchel secured on her belt.

“Here we are,” Cha said, walking over. Kat tensed up as Cha slid a helmet over her head. She held onto it, tempted to lift it right off again.

“You can breathe the air on the surface, but this helmet has a translator and will provide some protection,” Cha said, checking to make sure the rest of the suit was secure. Noticing how she still clutched the helmet, he frowned.

“Are you alright?”

“I- I don’t know,” she said. Heart racing, the hiss of her breath in her ears. Cha’s question just brought attention to herself which only made things worse. Chitauri around her lingered, panting her knees began to give. Cha grabbed her hand.

“You’ll be alright,” Cha whispered. “You’re alright.” Katiya didn’t lessen her grip as she gazed up at him. Cha’s smile remained, his hands holding onto hers until she let go.

“Kebi,” he called. Kebi perked up from looting the table of supplies, her arms full of useful tools. “Could you get us a chair?” Cha asked, gesturing towards Kat. Surprised, Kebi unloaded her treasures and hurried to a cluster of folded seats before bringing one over.

Sitting helped. The world stopped tilting as Katiya held her head. Her breathing slowed while Cha knelt beside her, a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“I understand. It can overwhelm a person doing something so new,” he remarked, twisting around and grabbed what appeared to be a pocket watch from the table behind him. He pressed the metal button at the top, summoning a mysterious yellow light blinking on the screen’s grid.

“This is a tracker. Normally we use it for group missions. Turn the nob to zoom in and out of the grid map,” Cha instructed. Katiya eyed the single blinking dot. It was dim, but she could make it out.

“Is that-?”

“Thanos? Yes,” Cha said. Katiya watched it slowly inch its way over the grid.

“When you find Thanos, stay with him. He will keep you safe should anything happen,” Kebi said while feeling for Kat’s toes inside the smallest boots they could find in the armory.

“Should anything happen?” Kat repeated, her voice raised slightly.

“Nothing will go wrong,” Cha assured, giving a Kebi a sideways glance who just shrugged and stood up with a grunt.

“They’re a little big, but those boots will work just fine for you,” Kebi nodded. Overwhelmed, Kat stood and threw herself into Kebi’s arms, hugging her close. The thin reptilian body of her friend seemed comforting to hold. Kebi patted her back in return.

When Cha instructed her to board the ship, Kat turned to follow him.

“Hey,” Kebi grabbed her arm, making Kat turn. Katiya looked down to see Kebi holding a metal club with three rings of blue neon lights encircling its blunt end.

“Take this,” Kebi said. “As long as your grip is tight on the handle, this baby can repel foes back three times farther than a normal club. It’s Thanos’s invention.” Kat took it, turning it over in her hand. Its shape reminded her of a bat and when she gripped the handle tighter, the blue rings brightened. Kat smiled.

“Don’t ask me how it works because I don’t have a clue. I’m sure Thanos’s explanation would go something like: ‘big words, big words, sciency stuff, sciency stuff, data collected, and big words.” She winked, making Katiya giggle. “All I know is that it works, and that’s what matters.”

Once Kat took her seat inside the craft, they left her to wait. She gazed out at the Chitauri moving about the docking bay until one dark shape loomed at the cabin entrance.

Katiya's blood froze as Proxima’s golden eyes bore into her from under the woman’s thick protruding brow. The fierce woman sat across from her, ignoring the fear oozing off Kat who was now seriously considering abandoning the mission altogether. But all thoughts of leaving were put to rest when the engines roared to life and sent them drifting downwards, pushing into the darkened world below.

Through the windows, Katiya watched the snow swirling past at the first sight of the dark grey overcast sky and pulled Kebi’s bat closer. She gazed up at the white lights of the docking bay as the door slowly closed behind them.

“Your heart rate is increasing,” Cha said through her comms. “Are you alright?”

“Um,” she replied.

“It’s alright. No one else can hear me,” he said.

“But,” Katiya hesitated, eyeing her companion staring out the other window.

“Don’t worry. She knows not to harm you,” Cha said. “I will watch your progress from up here. Be brave.” Katiya gulped, not at all comforted to be alone with Thanos's henchmen while cut off from her only allies. 

…

Their jets propelled snow into the air as the ship landed seamlessly on the flat rock surface. The air hissed as the door lowered. Katiya stiffened, eyeing the white wall of snow outside. The temperature regulator hummed gently on her chest as Kat gazed at the wide-open landscape, the snowy ground glaringly bright in the dim twilight.

Far off, a cluster of buildings rested inside a large valley below them, the promise of life flickered within the golden glow of their tiny windows while mountains loomed in the distance like sleeping giants. Even Thanos’s marker blinked in the direction of the town within the tracker’s grid. Her own marker appeared to be the arrow centered in the grid.

Proxima sneered at the cold before she grabbed hold of the nullifier around Katiya’s neck and yanked her out onto the ground. Kat let out a cry of surprise as she fell, her head hitting the rock below. Thankfully, the snow and her helmet cushioned most of the impact.

Shaken, Katiya rolled onto her back, squinting up at Proxima still inside the craft. The other woman jumped down, landing next to her, and strode over like a panther.

Expressionless, Proxima placed a boot on her neck. Kat gasp in pain, her gloved hands struggling to grip the woman’s boot as it pressed into her windpipe.

“I could kill you now if I didn’t think Thanos had a chance of finding you or that your pathetic friends would talk. But I can’t help it if you lose your way, never to find him or send for help,” Proxima said.

She reached down and bashed the side of her helmet. The crackling in her ear told Kat Proxima had damaged the rod for the communications transmitter. She watched it fall into the snow before Proxima stomped down on it, crushing it on the rock under her heel.

“Too bad they won’t know what happened until it is too late,” she said. With a knife she slit a patch into Kat’s suit on her chest, slipping two fingers into the folds, and removed a blinking disc-like device, the same light on the tracker, and chucked it far into the distance.

Finally, she reached for Katiya’s satchel, but Kat grabbed her hands.

“No,” Katiya glared. Proxima snarled, ripping it off of her, and kicked the smaller woman, sending Kat rolling away from the ferocity of the strike.

From the bag, Proxima retrieved the regulator, holding it up before pocketing it, and then climbed back onto the ship.

Kat fought to lift herself up before the jets sent a spray of snow into her face. The engines roared before the transporter craft shot off into the darkness, headed straight for the town and Thanos, leaving her to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and vote! 
> 
> Tell me what you think and constructive feedback is always welcome! 
> 
> ==
> 
> Please check out the trailer on my youtube channel:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PoWyy1H1H4&lc=z225fxmxkwidxrpyx04t1aokgjgz5riippfg4gqhs3rqrk0h00410
> 
> All rights to non-original characters are reserved for Marvel and Disney. This is a creative work of Fanfiction and is not made for profit.


	13. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katiya makes her way on Yvanni to find Thanos. But things don't go exactly as planned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I just realized these notes are more for chatting with readers than just posting the same ol' same ol' notes. Hahaha As you can tell I am still very new at all this! I am so happy to see there are some people who enjoy this story! This chapter doesn't really have Thanos and Katiya together, but the next one will have them together the whole time~ ^_^

[Katiya]

Cautious, Katiya stood up as the regulator warmed her after laying in the snowdrift until Proxima was gone. Thankful for the small bit of technology keeping her situation less dire, Kat knew she had to get help or risk dying out here.

Left with little choice, Kat began her journey towards the town. Trudging through the knee-high snow, she contemplated everything. If this horrible climate didn't kill her, Thanos's impending forces would.

Her mind slowly sunk back to Dy-Ya, the blood, the bodies...

She shook her head, trying to think of something else, anything else.

It wasn't until she was inside city limits when she realized Kebi's bat was still back on the ground where Proxima had thrown her from the ship. Frustrated, Kat kicked a chunk of ice on the road before a door slammed close by.

Kat jumped; fists raised, though she wasn't confident in her abilities of hand to hand combat. But much to her relief, no one appeared. But even faint muffled laughter from another building posed a potential threat.

Would these people take kindly to a stranger showing up in their town?

Suddenly a second door to a hut opened on her left and out stepped a hulking, white fur-covered person. It rounded the structure before dumping a basket of bones into the snow. Brown and yellow rags clothed it, tied around its middle like an apron. Curled black horns protruded from the top of its head and wrapped around them was a crown of flowers, which seemed out-of-place given the environment.

Katiya eyes darted about, searching for a place to hide, but the creature already noticed her. They both paused, unsure of what to think of the other until finally, it spoke in deep, guttural growls. The whisper of English from Kat's translator prompted her to turn up the volume.

"Female," was the last word it said. Katiya kept her distance.

"I am," she said. The creature tilted its head, hearing her voice transformed into its language thanks to Thanos's technology. "I am looking for a friend, maybe you could help me?"

"Friend?" it asked, turning more towards her. "One like you?"

"No," she shook her head and reached into the air over her head to express Thanos's stature. "He is insanely tall, and his skin is like..." She paused for a moment, seeing the crown of purple flowers on the creature's head. She pointed up to the headpiece. The creature blinked and removed the crown, then smiled at the tiny petals.

"Del-yahs," it said.

"What?" Kat asked. The alien plucked a dried purple flower from the bunch and held it out before her.

"Del-yahs," the creature repeated. "Winter flower."

"Yes," she smiled. "Do you know where he is?"

A howl from far off cut into the night air. The creature raised its head, sniffed the air and sent out a cloud of steam from its nose.

"Storm coming," it said. "This is a safe place for the female. Come." It opened the door again and motioned for her to follow it.

Hugging herself, Katiya took a small step backward, peering into the house. The warm fire past the threshold looked welcoming, but she didn't have a weapon to defend herself if things went south.

Could she trust it?

"No harm," it said, entering the house. "No harm," it repeated while Kat hesitated.

If she stayed out here, she risked facing a snowstorm on her own. And if she took her chances with the creature, at least she'd be warm. After a little deliberation, Kat decided it best to take shelter from a blizzard when offered.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her as the creature went about lifting pillows into a large nest. Furs and woven blankets filled the bed, on top of a strange wicker structure nestled in the far corner of the room. Wooden furniture filled the rest of the space. The table at the center of the room held a clutter of cooking utensils. Beyond it, drying herbs lay along a counter against the wall to her right.

In front of her, there was a contraption with a wheel, yarn strung around it, and foot pedals on the ground which reminded her of an old-time sewing machine.

Everything inside the small house seemed to be set back into the 1700s on Earth. The only electronic technology Kat noticed was a small gardening area in the corner on her left. Various flowers and plants flourish under a string of odd, dim, pink bulbs. The same purple flowers that made up the creature's crown were in the fullest bloom amongst the crop.

At the center of the far wall, an iron pot hanging over the fire issued a sweet smell. Her host stirred the bubbling contents as Kat edged further in, glancing at the tracker.

Thanos was still nearby, despite her fears of Proxima reaching him first. It was likely he hunkered down for the storm too.

'Please don't move,' Katiya prayed, hoping Proxima was in the same position as her. There was still hope she may reach him first.

Satisfied with the progress of the simmering brew, the creature took its place on the stool by the fire, pulling Kat from her thoughts.

"Have you eaten the night meal?" it asked.

"Oh, yes, I'm not hungry. But thank you," she replied. The creature smiled at her response.

"So polite," it said. Katiya blushed.

"My name is Qi'thieylah. I am also female," it said. "Most call me Qi."

"Well, my name is Katiya, most call me Kat," she replied.

"Kat," Qi tried, then nodded. "Suits you." Kat nodded in thanks.

"No need for a helmet," Qi said, gesturing to Kat's head. Absently, Kat touched the side of her protective headwear.

"I need it for my communicator," Kat answered. Qi blinked but couldn't voice another question when a light coo interrupted them.

Katiya spun around to find a small, fat version of Qi inside a hanging basket. The basket swayed at the end of a thick rope tied to one of the thatched beams on the ceiling. It moved as the baby swung its arms around, pouting through tiny lips.

With a gentle smile, Kat stepped over to the child. The infant's dark, wide eyes drew Kat to it, longing to hold the baby. Qi lifted the child and smiled. As if Qi read Kat's thoughts, she held the baby out to her.

"This is my son, Xandorph," Qi said. "Hold him close."

Up close Kat became nervous seeing the size of Xandorph, but she opened her arms as Qi handed him over. It was a struggle to not react to the child's weight as he latched on the moment he was against her. He cooed, nuzzling his little face into her neck. Katiya took a few shaky steps to the nest, sitting at the edge to rock him until the child yawned.

"It seems like you have a way with children. Do you have any of your own?" Qi asked.

"No, but I took care of younger family members where I grew up," she said.

"Where are you from?" Qi asked.

"Earth," Kat said.

"Never heard of it. Is it far?"

Katiya bounced the baby as he grabbed for her helmet. "Very," she answered catching the chubby hands.

"And is this friend you're looking for your mate?" Qi asked. Hearing Qi call Thanos her mate made Kat's ears burn. Kat shook her head.

"No, I don't have... no," she denied quickly. Qi arched a thick white brow. Even Xandorph stared at her, his round eyes tracing over her face as his chubby fingers curled into her suit. Her helmet made it difficult to gaze down at the child, but despite that, she knew he had to be one of the cutest fuzzy babies she had ever seen.

"Let me have him," Qi reached out for Xandorph, taking him. "You should rest. I will scout for news of your companion when the storm settles."

"No, I should go once the storm passes," Kat said.

"The blizzard will last all night. Rest here and let me find out what I can," Qi pressed.

Reluctantly Kat thanked her, waving to little Xandorph before she laid back into the nest and closed her eyes, unaware of the dangers lurking just outside.

...

A thundering boom of a giant fist on the door woke Katiya hours later. Adrenalin kicked in, making her jerk up, staring around as she regained reason while struggling to catch her breath.

“Qi? Qi! Open this door!” a deep voice boomed from the other side. Qi got up from her weaving and motioned for Kat to hide. Quickly Katiya went to the floor, crawling under the nest through the opening in the wicker bed. Once behind the nest, Kat floundered around until she could peer out between the wall and blankets.

It was a challenge to settle her breathing, which was harder to silence with her helmet. She closed her eyes. Being here may have been a fatal mistake.

Qi opened the door before a larger counterpart stormed in.

“Where is it, Qi?” they snarled, the deep voice sounding male. “I’ve heard the others speak of an alien coming to you and that you brought it into my house!”

“What?” Qi feigned.

“Do not play dumb with me,” he said, pushing her aside, inching closer to where Kat hid. Kat nearly burst out to make a run for it when the child squealed and drew him away.

Between the nest and the wall, Kat could see the male examine the baby. His rough appearance frightened Kat. His fur was darker in patches, with sharper horns, aside from one tip being broken off. He was taller than Qi by two heads with powerful muscles concealed under all the hair.

He reached down, studying the baby. A rumble issued from his throat and he sniffed the child more closely.

“It was here,” he growled. “Holding my offspring.”

Katiya tried to cover her mouth despite the helmet. Qi took her place between him and the nest.

"It needed help," Qi pleaded. "If you would have seen it-,"

He struck her to the ground with one stroke of his hand, knocking over a stool along with her, breaking it. Without missing a beat, the man tore off a splintered leg, raising it as Qi held up a hand weakly to defend herself.

“Look at what you made me do!” he seethed.

“Please Lyzo, please!” Qi begged, but he raised the weapon higher.

“No!” Kat shouted, pushing the nest away. Both faces snapped in her direction. Qi issued a whimper, afraid for her, and Katiya gave her a ‘sorry’ look before glaring at Lyzo.

“Creature,” he sneered. “You are trespassing.” Katiya stepped over the fallen pillows, her hands raised, trying to devise a way of getting Qi and her baby out of there and away from this man.

“I really should kill you,” Lyzo said. He lowered his weapon, eyeing her. “But seeing you now, we could find a better use for you.”

"What do you mean?" Katiya asked, looking at Qi who sat between Kat and her mate, glad she didn't appear badly hurt. From his little basket Xandorf began to wail, terrified by the commotion.

“You could be a pet to a lord, or perhaps a concubine?” the male smirked, ignoring his mate and child. Katiya swallowed, knowing she would do anything to avoid such a fate. But she had to play along.

“No!” Qi shouted and kicked him back in the chest.

Lyzo stumbled before catching himself and struck Qi on the head, knocking her out. He raised his hand again and Katiya flew forward, lying across the other woman.

“Stop it!” Katiya cried, doing her best to protect Qi with her body as much as she could. She tightened her body in order to hide the trembling she felt in every limb. Whether she wanted to admit it or not she was utterly afraid of what was to come.

“I’ll do whatever you want!” she shouted. Lyzo smirked, lowering his weapon, and ripped her off Qi. Katiya stumbled with a cry. Pitted against this man, she knew she was unable to break free.

The baby continued to scream as Lyzo hauled Katiya towards the door. Kat gave one last glance back to Qi before the door slammed in her face, surrendering her to the darkened world of wind and snow.

…

The stinging gale blasted them in their journey across the street and made it difficult to see or walk. Lyzo kept her by a fierce grip on her elbow. No matter how much she tried, Kat couldn’t pry herself free.

‘Thanos!’ Katiya cried out in her mind. According to the tracker, she had seen he was close a few hours ago, but now had little hope of him hearing her call.

The howl from earlier resounded out, but much closer. Lyzo flinched, looking around them, squinting into the white shroud of the heavy storm.

When she believed Lyzo’s attention dropped, Kat broke free. But he quickly latched his hand around her neck, choking Kat until she settled, then dragged her the rest of the way across the street.

Finally, they stopped before two other males waiting outside a tavern's wide-open door. She could see the patrons inside and from the crash of glass and cheering, Katiya could almost picture the brawl happening inside.

Both men were smaller than Lyzo, one skinny and tall, while the other was short and fat. Kat whimpered when Lyzo grabbed her arm, still delicate with a forming bruise from Proxima’s kick.

"Gentlemen, looky here what I got ya," Lyzo smirked. Both men sized her up, eyeing her through her suit.

“What do ya think? A prize to be won for any man, to be sure," the tall skinny one said with a stupid throaty chuckle but then nervously looked to his shorter friend. "A-at least I think so."

Katiya could already tell which of the two wore the pants in the relationship. The shorter one stroked his chin, narrowed eyes scanning her over. Embarrassed, Katiya tried to cover herself, fear mounting inside her stomach. His three-fingered hand, with an additional two reduced to nubs, cupped one of her breasts and squeezed. She gasped in pain. The man smirked.

"Not bad, not bad," he agreed. "Take the helmet off it." Katiya remained still, letting them grab her helmet and drop it to the ground. Her hair was neatly pinned to the back of her head, but that didn't stop the short one from running his grubby hands through it.

The short one hummed something, almost purring then made a breathy chuckle as it said something else in a growl, the syllabus a harsh guttural sound at the back of his throat. The taller one touched her hair then and muttered as it played with the curls she had been unable to tame in the clip.

The short one assessed her again and scrunched up his nose as he spoke again, displeased possibly with something about her appearance being far from what he considered pretty. Like she cared.

Lyzo responded as Katiya gave him a sideways glance before they shoved her forward. She quickly ducked, snatching up her helmet again before going too far when Lyzo wrenched her back by the arm.

She cried out in pain and the men smirked at each other as if the sound was pleasing to them. She pulled her helmet back one so she could at least understand what they were saying as they moved around the building, allowing Lyzo and her to go first.

Around the back, a furry creature stood on two muscular hooved legs with two tiny arms tucked into a thick coat of fur on its chest. It had antlers and a face that reminded her of a moose lazily chewing something in its mouth. Tiny eyes under thick lashes watched them approach. If the circumstances were different, Kat would have loved to pet it.

The creature was tied to a long wooden sled with bundles of items behind it. The animal stomped one hoof and snorted while the shortest companion dug through the supplies before tugging out a brown sack. A wicked grin spread across his round face.

"This ought to do the trick."

…

The sack stunk of fish. Kat gaged, but did everything she could to avoid puking. Throwing up inside her helmet would make this entire experience much more unpleasant.

Jostled around with the equipment, Kat could feel their slow progress. They kept on moving, undaunted by the storm as it bared down on the men. The howling wind, the crunch of boots, and the hooves were the only sounds present. Kat figured they had to be outside of town by now.

“Hey, what is that outpost ahead?” one spoke.

“Outpost? There isn’t any outpost this close to town,” Lyzo’s voice replied.

“But there is a fire,” the first one said. “Somebody’s out here.”

Katiya meanwhile thought of what she could do if the men abandon the sled for a moment. First, she had to figure out a way to untie herself.

“Female,” one said. It wasn’t Lyzo. “You so much as whimper while we speak to this bloke up ahead, and we’ll make sure that pretty face of yours doesn’t make the journey in one piece.” She only could shudder in response.

When the sled stopped, Kat felt the weight shift as they stepped off. Katiya wiggled inside the small sack and kicked over something metal, sending it rattling over the side. She could hear someone approach and the metal ring of the objects being placed back on.

“Stupid girl,” one snarled. The man climbed on and shoved her with his boot.

“We have plenty of stuff for you to buy, sir. Come and have a look-see,” Lyzo’s voice grew as he walked back to the sled. Hearing the man speak kindly made Katiya want to punch him in the mouth.

“Do you have any medical supplies?” a familiar voice asked. Katiya’s heart jumped into her throat upon hearing it.

Thanos.

She didn’t know what to do. Would he be happy she was here? Would he be angry?

A dreadful thought entered her mind. What if Thanos abandoned her after knowing these horrible men captured her? He didn’t show any interest in her, and the fact she was disobeying him by leaving the ship didn’t help.

No, there was no telling how he would respond.

“Sir, we have all your needs met with the supplies we have here. What do you need?” the third man said. The thought of Thanos buying something and leaving her was terrifying. This might be her only shot of getting out of there.

‘Thanos! I’m here! Thanos, I need your help!’ Katiya called inside her mind. She wasn’t breaking their rule, but little did they know the man next to them had an impressive knack for picking up thoughts.

“Let me see,” replied Thanos, not sending a mental response back as he had before. Could he hear her? She panicked. Was her helmet blocking his abilities?

The men started rummaging through their wares while she remained motionless, with Thanos only a few feet away. Someone climbed into the sled, shuffling around the boards until they came up and kicked her.

“Move,” Lyzo snarled under his breath. She inched to the side. When he touched her, Katiya couldn’t help but think of how he beat Qi, his mate, without mercy. And how he had the broken leg of the wooden stool raising it to strike her down.

Kat tried to stay out of the way as she thought of breaking free to plead with Thanos when Lyzo’s boot slammed into her bruised side again. The pain sent a flash of white through her brain. She bit her lip to avoid making a noise.

Suddenly one man cried out, a shriek that ended in a moan along with the sound of ripping and snapping.

“Oh, Gods!” another cried. Kat trembled at the blood-curdling shriek followed by a crunching thud of something heavy hitting the ground next to the sled. Meanwhile, the animal cried, rustling its harness before Lyzo took off. His scream faded as he ran, but then issued a cry of pain that cut off abruptly.

The baying animal continued to cry until she could hear Thanos’s deep voice quiet the beast.

"It's alright. Settle down," he commanded, but the tone was gentle. The rustling settled; snorting huffs became softer and finally, the animal relaxed.

Silence.

Katiya trembled, wondering what had occurred when something grabbed the top of her sack and yanked her upright. She cried out, afraid of Thanos killing her as well.

But when the top fell away, Kat felt relief wash over her now face to face with her initial captor.

“Thanos,” she breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you for all the nice responses to this story! Comments are always welcome!


	14. Mercy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Thanos saves Katiya from her captors she finds she is not the only one who needs help. Thanos and Katiya have some time to bond while stranded during a raging winter storm...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! 
> 
> Okay, I am so sorry I have not come up with a regular upload schedule. Finding time to write has become harder, but I will do my best to update you should I find a proper time to do weekly updates!
> 
> Thank you for reading my story. Don't forget to comment to let me know what you think!

[Thanos]

Thanos suppressed his astonishment while helping Katiya stand amongst the dirty things the scavengers hoarded on their sled. Though often boasting about his skills in foresight, Thanos had not predicted meeting her here. He half expected Cha to show up if anyone.

A rescue was beyond protocol. He had not requested it, nor had communication dropped. He made certain his men understood he was to complete this mission alone. Despite this, the last person Thanos expected was before him, shivering in a thermal suit.

Katiya hesitated before taking his hand, wrapping hers around one muscular finger, kicking off the sack. From her thoughts, he detected a smarting ache in her side.

‘Likely a bruise, but nothing serious,’ he guessed. They locked eyes. Before he could utter a sound, she attempted to get a glimpse at what became of her captors.

“Uh uh,” Thanos said, nudging her chin back with the side of his forefinger. “Don’t look.” 

The wind picked up as familiar drowsiness retained its hold on him. During the initial observation, Thanos discovered the planet’s ecosystem lulled synthetic life forms with freezing temperatures and lack of oxygen. This ultimately sent them into a stupor and would likely lead to unconsciousness and ultimately death. From the way Katiya pressed her cheek into his fingertips, eyelids drooping, Thanos knew the girl was falling under the same spell. 

A gentle shake by the shoulder roused the girl. Right now, it was best to keep her mind occupied with questions while taking shelter.

“Why are you here?” he asked, lips pursed with narrowed eyes, having to shout over the roar of the wind. Katiya raised her head only to have it lull back down, her mind issuing weary whispers of thoughts. 

“Don’t tell me Cha sent you to find me," he pressed, lifting her chin.

“Okay, then I won’t,” she muttered. The cool response earned a deep chuckle, his hands slid around her body, and lifted her into the crook of his arm. Instinctively, the girl hugged his neck, tense in his embrace.

“Relax,” he muttered.

“How can I when you’re holding me?” she asked with a hint of fear, fully awake. He started to walk with her. 

“I can walk on my own, Thanos!” she squealed.

“I’m sure you can, but the snow is deep here and you are much smaller than I am,” he replied. To this she gazed down, watching his legs wade through the snowdrift, the powdered ice reaching halfway up his shin. She held on a little tighter and he pulled her closer, ducking into the nearby cave.

Just inside the mouth, a roaring fire danced as its smoke filtered lazily out into the night. One bedroll lay beyond the cozy setting with a lantern to illuminate the surrounding space. Katiya examined the tools and weapons laid upon the ground beside the encampment when her eyes fell on one in particular.

“That’s my club,” she pointed. Thanos set her down. She hurried over to snatch the club up and examine it.

“I found it after picking up a signal from one of my ships and went to investigate,” he explained. “I believed one of my men had come looking for me, but the only other thing I found was a broken tracker on the rocks. I also met Proxima.” Katiya's face was already pale even for titan standards but at the mention of Proxima, her pallor changed into a ghastly shade. Thanos didn't like it but didn't ask when she glanced away, trying to hide the reaction.

“You can go to the fireside if you’re still cold,” he offered. Katiya said nothing, sitting down and hugging her knees amongst all the pelts and blankets. Closed off from him and the world, her mind blank from his reading yet again.

…

The men’s bodies were well away from the cave entrance, assuring that Katiya wouldn’t glimpse the carnage from his wrath. Their scattered entrails created red slush under Thanos's boots as he dug through the things in the sleigh. 

Sifting around, he discovered a white case with the blue cross of a medkit and opened it. Vials and jars of medicine with labels thankfully written in authorian were packed neatly wall to wall.

After locking the kit, his attention fell on the creature still huffing clouds of steam from the front of the sled. Thanos raised a hand, issuing it calming thoughts. The beast's breathing softened, its racing mind and garbled thoughts full of vague uncertainty. After inching towards it, the beast allowed him to place a hand on its neck and stroke its thick fur. 

He stopped petting it and earned a nudged from its comically large snout. Thanos felt his body relax, a smile threatened his lips. The storm would kill it if he abandoned it now. A look back at the cave he knew just what Katiya would say.

"You are a lucky one," he said. "Most animals would not witness such mercy without concession." He unhitched the animal from the sled and guided it to shelter. With a satisfied snort, the beast shook itself. From the corner of his eye, he saw Katiya sit up, yellow hair hiding the side of her face as she watched what was going on. 

Thanos turned away when she stood and walked over to the beast with a cheery strange voice, speaking sweetly to it. A swell of pride in his choice to save it filled him. He placed a hand on the lip of the cavern, listening to her speak between happy huffs of the animal before going out once again. 

...

The fact that the men were so foolish as to attack his... well Katiya was fortuitous. Medicinal supplies and blankets were already piled together to wrap in a canvas sheet to lug over his shoulder. Thanos didn't mind the cold as he worked, knowing he had enough to survive out here despite having a dependent to care for now.

By the time he returned, Katiya was lying down as if asleep, her helmet off. He tried to avoid making noise, but she opened her eyes when he approached. Katiya propped herself on one elbow to watch him unload everything onto another rock.

‘Your regulator is missing, and here I believed you’d broken it,’ she thought, knowing he would read her mind.

“A bullet had broken the mechanism,” he said. “Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t repair it with the little supplies I had along with the mainframe being down. I traded the shattered remains for provisions, including that pelt.” He nodded in her direction.

“Those fools saw the diamond shape and desired it, though I warned them it’s composed of polyethylene,” he said. Katiya blinked. “The material most call plastic,” he clarified, she tilted her head.

‘So basically, you got all this for a bargain,’ Katiya shrugged and laid back again, facing the cave ceiling. Thanos watched her arch her back, cracking her fingers with a groan, stretching out after being in that tiny burlap sack. The round shape of her breasts still obvious under her suit.

“What did you say?” he asked shaking his head, purging his mind of such contemplations.

‘A steal?’ she picked up her head.

“I am not a thief,” he replied a stilted tone in his response. The girl held up a hand to stop him.

‘I guess it must not be translating. It is just something we say on Earth when purchasing things,’ Katiya explained. It was his turn to arch a brow, inhaling through his nose as he pondered this. 

Katiya covered her mouth and giggled, sending blood to the tissue just under his skin, his cheeks burning as he cast his eyes away. To distract himself, Thanos hastily went to stir the dying embers of the fire. 

In the darkness their beast chewed on moss, snorting happily and content to be out of the raging blizzard.

‘I’m guessing you rejected Proxima’s regulator?’ she asked after a moment of silence.

“I did,” he answered. She laughed again.

‘For a genius, you sure do foolish things,’ she smirked.

“I am not surprised you don't understand. But I have a superior constitution than your delicate human anatomy. It was prudent that I turn it down,” he said.

‘So that’s it then? You’ll die because of your ego and pride?’ she replied. He ignored the question.

‘And why did you come here? With the technology you have on that ship, couldn’t you just project into their communications?’ she thought.

“Do you not think I tried that initially?” he chastised, letting the question hang. She said nothing, turning away to pout like a child. He heaved a heavy sigh and attempted to salvage the conversation. After all, this is the most they had ever spoken.

“Did they hurt you?” he asked, the curtness of his earlier dialogue gone. She narrowed her eyes, searching him after the sudden change in subject. 

“Did they do anything… untoward?” he continued.

‘If you include undressing me with their eyes, then yes,’ she responded. Hearing this, Thanos could barely keep the seething rage from consuming his mind. It had been too merciful to kill them quickly.

‘But this isn’t all about me. You’re hurt too,’ she said, eyes on his shoulder where dried blood had streamed down to his torso, and the scorch marks on his stomach. 

Tren’s plasma round had melted his armor. Thanos had already welded the damage shut, but streaks of dried blood now marked the impermeable suit.

Being reminded of his injuries made Thanos pause. Hadn’t he set out to heal himself when those men showed up? 

In search of medical supplies, Thanos only cared about his own survival until he caught onto her cries, his name in her mind... In an instant, he saw what she had been through, felt her terror, and lost control.

Pensive, he knelt to feed the flames more kindling when a sharp pain underneath his ribs caused him to flinch. Quickly Thanos clapped a hand to his side, stifling a grunt as he shifted to the cave wall, easing himself to the ground.

His reaction hadn’t gone unnoticed; Katiya lifted her head, likely stirred by a strange ripple of discomfort through their mental link. 

Soundless, her feet padded across the stone floor, knelt down, then threw in a hunk of chopped wood that had fallen out of the stack. After scanning over the ashes, she pulled out a singed limb and used it to stoke the embers while blowing at the fire’s roots.

Thanos bit back the pain when he removed a portion of his armor. He swallowed a moan, resting his head on the cave wall. Katiya leaned onto her newfound staff, golden hair radiating in the bright glow of the fire, her back to him.

‘Katiya,’ Thanos called. She sent him a serious expression over her shoulder. ‘I need medicine from the kit. Get it for me.' Thanos, son of Alars, despised asking for help, but as time passed his condition only worsened. She obeyed, striding over to the mess of supplies before finding the case and returned to him.

“Thanos,” she said. That word, it required no translator for him to recognize his name with her Earthly accent. But the way she said it, how it rolled off her tongue… He yearned to hear it again but couldn’t lower himself to ask. She would tease him, that he knew with absolute certainty.

Focused, Katiya held up jars of disinfectant and flu medicine. He gestured her closer so he could read the labels, then pointed out the needed drugs. Under the silent guidance of his thoughts, Katiya set them aside in a pile.

To a bystander, their interaction may have seemed peculiar, but their intermingling thoughts were the most they had ever interacted prior. 

When it came to the armor, Katiya assisted in removing the rest from his side, slowly and carefully while checking his expression for any sign of pain. But, like in battle, he never gave away just how much discomfort he was truly in.

Small amounts of blood had collected under his suit before the wound clotted, it spilled onto her hand the moment she removed a section. She didn't respond, it only seemed to drive her efforts on.

The biting cold was nothing compared to the chill Thanos had in realizing his injury was deeper than first expected. Truthfully, he hadn’t predicted finding plasma weapons on such a desolate planet with little technology. But this populace was rife with thieves, robbing anyone who landed here. He had been careless and paid for it.

When she dabbed the wound to mop up blood, he jerked away with a snarl. Any sort of harsh remark he conjured was silenced by a fierce glare from her cerulean eyes.

‘You’re going to have to trust me,’ she thought, retrieving the jar he pointed out first. She unscrewed the lid and, with two fingers, attempted to apply the medicine to the meat inside the burn. Thanos chuckled at the wrinkled crease on her nose in a cringe of squeamishness and took the jar to do it himself.

Katiya sat on her heels, rubbing the back of her wrist on her forehead, smudging some of his purple blood there before grabbing the next jar. If they hurried, they might just be able to prevent blood poisoning. In small gentle circles, she applied the medicine to his lilac, green-stained flesh which prickled under her touch.

‘Will you die?’ she asked.

“If left untreated, yes,” he answered coolly. Once satisfied, Katiya moved onto his shoulder before he gently caught her hand, ignoring the mess covering it.

“Why are you helping me?” he asked. In this wilderness, she was out of his power, yet she still attempted to aid him. The pale fingers cradled in his hand were so tiny and delicate. It was impossible to ignore her beauty and not have an uncharacteristic hope he hadn’t felt in so long now awoken like a maelstrom within his chest.

‘Because,’ she started. ‘Because I wouldn’t survive out here alone.’ Thanos’s shoulders lowered and he let go. The nearly tangible silence between them prompted Katiya to break it by retrieving the medical adhesive from the scattered pile. Patiently he allowed her to finish up and clean everything off the cave floor.

And when Thanos tried to stand, Katiya jumped to help only to be shoved into the wall with a fraction of his strength, not enough to hurt her. Her thoughts buzzed inside his head the second he pinned her there, at his mercy.

Fear.

Lip curled, Thanos exposed his canines in a sinister glower.

“Don’t think this means you are out of harm’s way. You are no safer with me than you were with those men,” he snarled. She shuddered but tried to stifle it by raising her chin, a habitual gesture he noticed.

Satisfied, he departed for the cavern’s maw.

‘Where are you going?’ she called, the tremble all too obvious now.

“Out,” he replied gruffly. It wasn’t an invitation to follow.

…

Nearly thirty minutes later Thanos came back to discover Katiya pacing about the bedding, wild yellow hair unclipped and spilling over her shoulders. He didn't intrude on her meditations and let the girl ponder as he found a dry spot to rest by the fire.

When Katiya finally spoke without her helmet, there was no meaning in her words for him just by listening, but her thoughts revealed there was a baby she worried about, the father was one of the three he killed outside. He could see that after landing, Katiya met a female and her child. And now she wished to go back to ensure their wellbeing. 

He shook his head. "No."

Indignant, she glared and spoke in an adamant and rising tone. Frustration.

"You will perish in that storm before you even reach the village. The baby will be fine," he replied. Eyes narrowed, she grabbed her helmet and started towards the entrance.

"I have to be sure Qi is okay. I can just follow the tracker like before," she said through her translator. "And you aren't stopping me."

"Then I go with you," he shot back. She halted and spun around, eyeing him with a pointed look.

"I can do some things on my own, you know," she snapped.

"The storm is already picking up," he said. "If there is a child, then it will be safe inside its home for now. What good will you be if you die on the way of retrieving it?" She regarded the small opening to the storm.

Outside the cave, the wall of white remained ever thick upon the howling wind, forbidding intruders from venturing out into its wasteland. She shivered and turned up the dial of her regulator.

"Rest," he said.

"No," she responded, not looking back and bolted. Thanos instantly sent a mental blast through their connection, collapsing her process of thought and will for a few seconds, halting her legs, sending the girl to fall in slow motion which granted enough time to reach and retrieve her.

Outraged Katiya cried out, shoving him, but Thanos ignored her efforts until the toe of her boot collided with his injury. He held her tighter, their thoughts co-mingling as their wills did battle.

Long ago, Thanos discovered that, behind his third eye, telepathy allowed him to fathom feelings in streams of color. Each person, like a voice, possessed a distinct impression of hue, identifying each individual uniquely to their pattern of thoughts.

Thanos closed his eyes and glimpsed the glowing sun of Katiya's white light tinged with gold. On the surface, this display was normal. But Thanos's abilities were far greater and detect more than this. Behind a veil lurked a great vastness inside her. The memory of this immensity tearing her apart in his armory flashed through his mind, blood running down her face like morbid tears.

For now, Thanos dared not tarry there and returned to reality, blinking away the blurriness from staring at the wall as he influenced her. That was when Katiya tilted her head back to look at him square in the face. 

"What was that?" she said.

"What?" he asked. She removed her helmet and scrutinized his face, speaking her language. Thanos sought to understand, but only found a blank slate inside her head.

"Katiya," he glowered in a warning. In response, she leaned her head back against his arm, the softness of her hair brushing his skin. How he longed to curl his fingers into those generous locks. It was almost maddening facing this defiance now when they were so close. Her plump lips formed a smile.

'For an instant, I saw you, the real you. You're afraid,' she thought. Surprised, Thanos recoiled in their cerebral dance. Impossible. He nearly laughed out loud at the assertion a girl of so little power and influence could penetrate his mind. But then he paused.

What if that was not the case at all? What if it only took him entering her mind for her to see him there? His presence alone could display all he is thinking and feeling while she was being dissected like a specimen every time, she confounded him. If so, it must have been a very light glimpse to have escaped his notice.

'So, it is true, the mighty Thanos knows fear,' Katiya mused. Though what she didn't understand was that the entity he feared most now was her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter preview: 
> 
> Thanos contemplates the strange thoughts and feelings he has for Katiya while they venture out into the wilderness to find Qi and little Xandorf!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	15. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katiya and Thanos venture on to make sure Qi and little Xandorf are safe after being attacked during Kat's kidnapping. Meanwhile, Thanos is determined to reach King, knowing time is running out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone.
> 
> Okay so this chapter got a bit more love on my Wattpad profile last week, so I think I will try to add more cute scenes of Thanos and Katiya for you guys! 
> 
> Enjoy! :-)

[Thanos]

The rest of that evening she spent dozing in and out of sleep. Every time Katiya woke, Thanos watched her take inventory of her surroundings and search for him. And every time he glanced away before her eyes found their mark.

By the fifth time, the fire had mostly died. The smoke fizzled out as he leaned against the cave wall, calibrating a pistol. Feeling eyes on him, Thanos acknowledged Katiya. Her long silken hair sprawled over the rock as she peered through the shadows. The moment their eyes met, she quickly feigned a stretch and pulled the blankets close to hide.

Downcast, he continued to work. This strange behavior muddled his mind. Was it because she worried about his injuries? Or was it only an instinct born from fear? It made sense for her to be intimidated by her obvious superior. Though the thought of her dreading being close to him made the titan… bitter.

To call it perplexing was an understatement.

The threat he made to her earlier wasn’t true. He never felt so much frustration when it came to another person, much less a woman who occupied his mind most hours. From where he sat, he could see the odd bulge of the nullifier around her throat under her thermal suit.   
Powerless and with no experience in fighting, Katiya left all the defending and work to him.

Helpless in every sense of the word.

“You’re going to have to trust me.”

He almost laughed at her words. Trust her? As if she was the one doing the saving. But his musings died away as the pain in his side picked up.

Thanos touched the bandages on his torso, reimagining those hands on him again, dabbing the injuries. Blue eyes look into his. Knitted brows, the stern expression, lips slightly parted in focus. He memorized all of it.

But affection was not the purpose of her concern…

“I wouldn’t survive out here alone.”

That was her defense. Thanos could not blame her, nor think of a reason not to trust the statement. Why would she ever want him? He ended the lives of her friends right in front of her, after all. No, he would always be the center of ire in her mind.

A thrum of noise filled his head as she “rested”. Absent of the fire’s roar and howling wind, Thanos’s abilities picked up a mind-numbing cacophony of thoughts issuing from under the blankets.

“You’re anxious; do you wish to talk?” Thanos muttered, willing to do anything to get it to stop, even if discussing trifling worries were outside his field of experience. There was a small reaction. The voices descended to whisper while she pondered on whether to engage him.

‘What gave that away?’ she thought at last, pressing her face into the soft pelt clenched in her hands. Thanos shifted. Katiya’s head snapped back in reflex. Both froze, staring at the other. He had only adjusted position, but even that was unwelcome to her as drawing a weapon.

Did she fear him so much?

“What is it?” he asked, suppressing a growl confined to his throat. Her mind buzzed for a topic.

‘How will we find the village again?’ she asked at last. Thanos caught onto what she was referring to. The infant. He shrugged, hands still tinkering with the pistol.

“You followed a tracker into that village, right?” he asked.

‘Yes,’ she thought, sitting upright.

“It must have been where the traders took my equipment,” he said. “I had attached a tracking device to it when hearing they intended to reach   
King’s place. You followed it.”

“Are we looking for ‘king’?” she asked.

We.

The phrase alone formed an alliance between them. His chest swelled while appraising the girl. Was she asking how to help his cause, to help him?

“Yes. If they stayed the night, they should still be there,” he finished. She bit her lip, sending his mind into a frenzy. How could a light shift in expression affect him so? He swallowed.

To distract himself, Thanos rose to rebuild the fire, certain the cave had lost most of its warmth since dying out. If she remained awake; he could at least make it more comfortable.

But why? Hadn’t he used enough fuel to heat the cave? He paused at the depleted pile of wood he had gathered only the day before. There had to be a compromise if he was to care for this defenseless girl.

Resolute, he gathered another armful of branches, placing each piece in after pushing aside the ashes. Using the kindling box from their supplies, he took a piece of quartz to strike against a piece of steel, sending sparks onto the small pile of paper rubbish and small twigs to get it started and helped the fire begin anew.

The growing heat eased the tension in his muscles as she stepped over into the light, sitting at his side, brushing his arm. The titan stiffened, struggling to keep his attention fixed ahead.

It took everything in his power not to gaze upon her now, careful not to betray himself. But good looks were only partly responsible for this… infatuation. Katiya wasn’t as dull as most women he met. She cared. It was Katiya who risked her life to save Gamora, a little girl she hardly knew. For that, he was forever grateful.

“If you are still cold,” he began. “I will gather supplies from the crates. There are coats and boots I plan to trade for supplies. I’m sure we won’t find anything that would fit, but I can look.”

“No,” she replied. “I’m fine.” That was when those eyes focused on him.

The tempo of his heartbeat pounded within his ears while breathing became a shallow and difficult struggle. Those eyes impaled him to the spot like a tiny microbial species, or an insect pinned behind a glass casing to be examined. Merely functioning became impossible in an instant. Every breath, every spasm of muscle, judged under a lens at the most extreme magnification. The sensation had him on edge.

What was with this woman? The fact she could make him so uneasy and at ease within the same moment was beyond frustrating for the battle-worn titan.

Tense, he snapped a tree limb thick as her arm with his bare hands, dropping each piece in as he searched for something to say, anything to negate this torture. Thanos knew he wasn’t handsome and wouldn’t fool himself to think otherwise. But he couldn’t prevent his imagination from toying with reality.

He could see himself lift Katiya into his lap, pressing his forehead to hers. Her eyelids flutter shut as she inhales his scent. He places a soft kiss at the center of her forehead, his enormous hands lift her face, she smiles, their gaze holding each other. He leans forward, lips brushing hers but pauses.

She waits, breath tickling his cheeks before he descends to the delicate skin below her jaw, leaving butterfly kisses as he savors the taste of her skin, licking over the jugular, roaming to the delicate curve where the neck meets her shoulder, pressing her against his body to bite down.

A swoon burst from her lips, arching her back she grips his wrist, staring at the ceiling in bliss. Sucking harder, he rocks them back, Katiya clinging to his suit to keep herself from falling.

“Thanos,” she moans. He bites again, making her flinch. His large calloused hands pull the blanket around her, keeping her pinned to him.   
When he pulls away, a purple and red mark lies in his wake. His mark. Katiya pants, watching him with heavy-lidded eyes, a sigh still on her lips-

“Were you born with them?” she inquired; a light touch of her fingers shattered the illusion he created in his mind. Katiya, mark-less, crinkled her brow as he regained the reality of their physical distance on the cave floor.

Thanos blinked, shaking off the fantasy. A light touch was all it took to tear through the titan’s deliberation. He stiffened beneath the fingers tracing over his bicep.

Earlier that evening Thanos had gotten hot and removed his thermal suit and now only had the skintight black and bronze body armor underneath. The bodysuit was sleeveless, freeing his powerful arms from any restraining material. And that’s how he liked it. But now Thanos cursed himself for being defenseless for such an assault.

“The markings on your skin,” she clarified, the grooves trailing from his shoulder to his elbow. “Their beautiful.” Her lifting her face up to him.

As an infant, these three lines appeared as strange wrinkles on his chubby arms but transformed to light branding groves into adulthood. It outlined his entire body from his arms to his legs They curled around the side of his forearm, just below the wrist. He knew it was a side effect of the mutation, another thing to mar him with.

Her fingertips traced over the lines up his arm, to the bandage on his shoulder from the thug’s broadsword. It took every ounce of his training in self-control to not tremble under the tickling sensation crawling up his spine.

“Do you often touch strangers whenever you please?” he glowered.

“No,” she replied, removing her hand. “But you aren’t a stranger.” Surprised by the frankness of her answer, Thanos set his jaw, watching the fire dance before them as she sat there quietly.

“Actually, I feel like I’ve known you for a long time,” Katiya explained. “Every time I wake, I feel I lose a secret I regain in dreams. What if it’s because of my powers?” She blinked, shaking her head as if banishing the thought.

“No. It’s a simple phenomenon,” Thanos said. “It has nothing to do with your powers, just an abnormal manifestation within your brain causing-,”

“This isn’t the same,” she pressed, interrupting him with a fierce look. Such urgency reminded him of Gamora with the childish adamant persistence in dreams being true. A powerful heat ignited in his chest a stirring brought on by only three women in his life. He smiled, setting a hand on her head, his palm almost swallowing it.

“Alright, little one,” he smiled.

“I’m not so little,” she said, taking hold of his thumb and pinky finger. Thanos pulled back and nodded.

“No, you aren’t,” he agreed, having noticed the small human’s femininity long ago. “And, you don’t have to pretend to compliment me.”

“I meant it,” she said. His heart began to race all over again, once again brought on by her words alone.

“Though such graciousness is surprising. I have isolated you for so long, it is only natural to desire mating after seclusion,” he surmised, folding his hands as he always did when establishing a thesis to any theory. And this observation held no inflection of previous feelings.

“You’re appalling,” Katiya said, voice trembling, and stood, the blanket falling from her shoulders, fists clenched at her sides. “You think the very worst of people, no matter the circumstance. You threatened me when I helped you and now you say that I want to… that I would even THINK of… I wouldn’t have you even if you threatened to kill me!”

Thanos grabbed her throat again. The breath caught in her throat in a ragged gasp, staring up at him, one stray curl danced on her breath issued between clenched teeth.

And as they had already rehearsed back on Sanctuary a few days prior, she raised a hand and pressed his palm into the delicate flesh of her throat. Even now he could see her own consciousness rising up to meet his, welcoming him into her mind so that she could read his too. He didn’t take the bait.

“Why shut everyone out?” she whispered, eyes narrowed, though he could feel her trembling.

“I don’t expect that you would understand,” Thanos answered with a bitter smile.

“Then I shall continue to aggravate you,” she promised. He growled, releasing her. She fell to the floor, holding her neck, struggling to regain her breath.

“Even though it pains me, I must thank you,” she muttered. He observed her from the corner of his eye. “Though I have more than enough reason to despise you,” she finished.

He said nothing to that, only smiled dimly at those biting words. For years he protected himself enough from the thoughts and insults from others. What was one more beating at his walls?

End the conversation, she climbed to her feet and padded across the stone floor to the bedroll as Thanos stalked over to the entrance of the cave, unholstering his pistol. He craved to blow off some steam from his foolish yearning with some shooting practice.

Despite the way she ended their discourse, it didn’t stop a dark smirk from spreading over his face as he made an oath to have the female occupy even more of his time once he reclaimed her for Sanctuary.

…

After the storm broke the next morning, Thanos wandered out, shielding his tired eyes from the bright sunlight filtering between the skeleton trees. Sleep deprivation was a typical byproduct for any mission planet-side.

Resolute on getting to continue on, Thanos hitched up their beast, or the moose-goose as Katiya dubbed the bipedal creature, which he found pawing at the ice-yielding green vegetation underneath. And lastly packed all their supplies onto the sled.

In contrast, once she woke, Katiya suited up and ventured out. Practicing with her club on an unfortunate boulder she found outside. With the bodies tucked under a sheet of white, the world appeared peaceful. Katiya struck the boulder over and over, creating an echoing clack around them, the sound waves bouncing off the trunks of the frozen forest absent of life.

Having finished perpetrations for their departure, Thanos found himself mesmerized by the small girl practicing until her swings became sloppy with fatigue. Worried she would wear herself down too much, he strode over.

Winded, Katiya jumped with a yelp catching sight of him. Oblivious, as always. Thanos did nothing to fight back the smile when she coughed to disguise her astonishment.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” she said, placing her bat on her shoulder and followed him.

…

At the village, they found inhabitants mingling amongst the buildings, absent of a protective wall like the first town Thanos found and he thought it fortunate that Katiya discovered this village instead. Although he faced the brunt of her bull-headed stubbornness, unwilling to listen unless given unquestionable reason to not do so.

“That one.” 

Katiya pointed to one of the low-roofed huts on the very edge of the town. Poorly constructed, it matched the other surrounding structures, evidence of the impoverished lifestyle of these people suffered in for survival on a planet that offered few resources.

A cluster of tough-looking brutes filed out of a two-story shack just across the street. All of them carried guns or clubs strapped to their sides or backs, whispering to each other while staring at Katiya on the bench at his side.

Thanos found they knew something about her kidnapping the previous night, noticing their missing friends with her liberated reappearance. They waited for him to leave, thinking of him as a sled driver or hired gun, waiting to seek justice for their missing comrades. Even these fools believed Katiya couldn't possibly be with him. 

Irritated at their dimwitted assumptions, Thanos issued his own threat to them: 

‘Try anything on the small female and your deaths will be long and lingering,’ he projected into each of their minds. They recoiled, searching around until their attention rested on him and he met each with a dead stare.

“Alright, let me off,” Katiya said, rousing him by standing. Thanos broke his threatening gaze to offer out a hand to help her down.

“I’ll be right back,” she promised, heading off, but abruptly halted. “Oh!” She spun around, running back, leaned over the bench to reach behind him.

“Ah-ha!” she said with triumph, pulling her bat out. The onlookers remained transfixed on the little woman, watching her rest the weapon on her shoulder and shuffle to the doorstep. Thanos chuckled at the attempt of acting tough when there was nothing to fear with him beside her.

A brief mental scan of the house informed Thanos that a single person was inside, but the images he pulled from it he couldn’t discern. He watched cautiously as she knocked on the door.

...

[Katiya]

Katiya waded through the snow towards the front door, praying that Qi was alright. She pulled her coat closer, raised her hand, knocked three times, and waited.

No answer.

Turning the knob, she found it unlocked. The door creaked open as she eased into the darkened room. No light manifested from the darkened fireplace, forcing her to rely solely on the sunlight pouring in from behind her.

In the corner, the bed hadn’t moved from its place, pushed away from the wall. The stool Lyzo broke laid shattered on the floor. Quietly, Katiya tiptoed over to the hanging bassinet and found it-empty, swaying in the wind. She shivered, taking one last glimpse around with worry.

Had Qi just run off? She hoped that was the case.

Resigned, Katiya faced the entrance when a faint coo caught her attention. She spun around to face the bed. Hearing it again, she breezed over to the nest, setting the pillows and cushions aside, digging for the tiny sounds.

And there he was.

The moment she uncovered him; Xandorf gave a gummy smile up to her. Chubby hands reached up as Katiya breathed a teary sigh of relief and caressed his round cheek when a bit of parchment stuck in the swaddled blankets caught her eye. 

She lifted the message, but couldn't discern the odd scribbles. ‘Perhaps Thanos could read it,’ she thought and tucked it into her breast pocket.

The infant, unguarded and abandoned, had not been what she expected to find. Taking in the dark fireplace and the way Xandorf had been concealed, Katiya knew Qi must have left him unwillingly.

Afraid for the infant, Katiya took another thick woven blanket and wrapped it around him, leaving only an opening for his face. She lifted the baby tenderly, letting him nuzzle his little face into her neck, straining under his weight before returning to the street.

Outside in the nipping air, Katiya could see a larger crowd gathered about, taking in Thanos and her. Most of them appeared to be only villagers, while a small group outside of the bar armed with pistols and blunt weapons eyed her.

‘Just keep going. Don’t let them know you’re afraid,’ Katiya told herself. From the sleigh, she could see Thanos nod, as if he had heard.

‘Great,’ she thought. Even her thoughts weren’t safe. The snow crunched underfoot over the cobbled road while the villagers muttered to themselves.

“Is that another alien?” one asked.

“I didn’t know Qi had a baby,” another said.

“Sort of ugly little bald thing, isn’t it? It has breasts but is it female?” a third muttered. Katiya knew what “thing” they were discussing. Their harsh remarks whispered through the translator, leaving her to wonder if they considered the possibility of such technology being in her suit.

When she offered the child up to Thanos, he lightly took him, allowing Katiya to climb in. As she settled, Thanos examined Xandorf, his large finger brushing the baby’s cheek. The infant fussed, pushing Thanos’s hand away in a miniature display of defiance. Kat giggle as the corner of   
Thanos’s mouth twitched upwards.

“I can take him,” she said and Thanos offered him out to her waiting arms. The infant squirmed until he freed a chubby hair-covered hand and touched the glass of her visor. In response, Katiya crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

“Nnnah!” she said. Xandorph squealed with joy and slapped it again and she repeated.

“We have to go,” Thanos interrupted, making her glance to the crowd. The others appeared unsettled seeing a baby of their kin within the arms of aliens, but none dared to challenge Thanos. She nodded.

“Alright. Hold tight, little one,” she whispered. Xandorf cooed in response as Katiya covered his face with a thin blanket to protect it from the wind. Thanos charged forward in a wide turn, forcing the crowd to make way, and took off for the open plains.

After having both hands occupied, for stability at their increasing speed, Katiya pressed into him. Thanos grunted almost ruefully and wrapped an arm around her. The sound hadn’t escaped Katiya’s notice, flinching at the press of his embrace, making her body rigid as ice.

Further away, it appeared less likely someone would follow them, making Thanos ease up a bit. She tried pulling away, feeling too comfortable against him for her liking.

“Relax, little one. I don’t want you to fall off,” he said.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” she huffed. Thanos let out a breathy laugh.

“Then how do you prefer I address you?” he inquired; head cocked to the side. She didn’t dare spare a glance to him, judging from his tone she knew there was that irritating glint in Thanos’s eye when he taunted her.

Katiya shivered, knowing she needed him until Xandorf found safety with his mother or anyone that could help. Then… what then? Runaway?   
And go where? This planet offered no hospitality, and if she returned to Sanctuary…

Cha, Kebi, and of course little Gamora would be there…

Deep dips down a few small hills brought her back, clinging to his suit. Unsure on how to answer, she blushed, feeling him pull her closer.

/Lady./

The name which Cha had used still made her heart skip a beat.

“Cha once called me Lady,” she suggested. He glanced down at her, brow raised, and something dark lingered within those blood-red irises, something she should not have seen.

“In civilized space, it is the highest title of respect for a woman. Cha is showing you great attention by using it,” he muttered. She blushed, turning her burning face elsewhere.

“It doesn’t mean what you think,” she said. “We are just friends.” Why was she explaining this to him? What did he care? And what was with that look?

“Anyway, I sort of like it,” she admitted, despite the respect it came with. It was preferable compared to being treated like the child “little one” labeled her to be. Deep rumbling filled his chest in a mirthful chuckle, she could feel it vibrating under her head even through his coat and suit.

“The day I address you as Lady is when I have truly gone mad,” he jested.

Madness. This cropped up a memory she would have loved to forget from back in the labs. When his initial scans of her were over, Thanos turned away, speaking to someone outside of view. Next his scalpel sliced into her wrist… His voice trembling, and that wild expression…

“Consider this my offering,” Thanos had said as her blood trailed to the floor.

A quake of fear gripped her inside her chest, never wanting to witness that side of him again.

…

A long drive later Thanos finally spoke, his voice barely audible over the snow’s hiss under the sled:

“What do you plan to do with him?” he asked. Katiya gazed down at the child, the covering over his head barely moving as the baby slept. She thought of the note, wanting to know if it was from Qi and what she had wished to convey. But currently, Thanos’s hands were better-occupied driving than reading a note that might not answer the questions burning away in her mind.

“I don’t know,” she confessed. “I doubt Qi willingly left him with no fire, food, or person to watch over him unless she had no choice." Thanos snapped the reigns, speeding up to overcome a few snowdrifts.

Blue bled from the sky as they charged towards the sunset. The freezing temperatures sunk its fangs into her further while the sun began its daily descent behind the far mountains. She pressed into Thanos’s side for protection from the wind, listening to the creak of the leather straps between his fingers in his tightening grip. The sparkling world of these flatlands offered no reprieve, no lucky cave they could happen upon.   
Even the trees were sparse out here.

Eventually, Thanos pulled to a stop, rousing her. She tried to ask what was wrong when she followed his scrutiny to a small flicker of light on the horizon.

“I think it’s a fire,” he said. Katiya perked up at the promise of warmth. Her toes were freezing off to nubs and wanted the chance to sleep pronto.

“What do you think?” Thanos asked, turning to her. For once he hesitated, wary of taking such a risk. Though it was a brief period she was with him, Katiya knew throwing caution to the wind was not Thanos’s style. 

This rash deliberation meant something more. Did it imply he suffered from the cold too, or perhaps worried for the baby, or maybe even… her? Katiya’s stomach clenched at the thought and chastised herself for it.

“What do we have to lose besides our extremities?” she shrugged. Thanos eyed her for the joke but said nothing before snapping the reigns again, heading towards what they both suspected was a trap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for making it this far! Your support means so much! 
> 
> Please don't forget to leave a comment if you liked this chapter!


End file.
